If you believed that BMW’s logo evoked the company’s past as an airplane manufacturer, you’re mistaken. You’re also mistaken if you assumed that the “Roundel” in the emblem represented a rotating airplane propeller. Fortunately, the Munich-based automaker recently published a “BMW Explained” column debunking some of the Roundel’s origin lore.
As stated in the article by Fred Jakobs of BMW Group Classic, “many people think the BMW emblem is a stylised propeller.” But the reality is somewhat different.
What led to the creation of the Roundel? The company’s famous blue and white inner circular quarters actually got their start as a symbol of the state of Bavaria’s official colors, according the historical discovery. But when the BMW logo was initially designed, the local trademark law of the time forbade the use of the state’s coats of arms and other associated “symbols of sovereignty” in commercial insignias. As a result, the pattern within the BMW emblem displays those colors inverted order.
In order to get around the trademark law, BMW merely reversed the colors.
After beginning as Rapp Motorenwerke GmbH in 1913, BMW originally registered as a business with the German Imperial Register of Trademarks on October 5, 1917. Since BMW didn’t have an emblem at first, its designers simply adopted the former founding company’s original badge, kept its circular shape with the outer black ring, and changed the horse head silhouette with the state’s inverted colors and the letters BMW, which stand for Bayerische Motoren Werke or Bavarian Motor Works.
What is the origin of the widespread misunderstanding that BMW’s emblem resembles an airplane propeller? This 1929 commercial:
It first appeared that year as a marketing ploy for the firm’s most recent aviation engine, which they were making for Pratt & Whitney under license at the time, just as the world economic crisis, better known to us as “The Great Depression,” started to take hold. Due to its strong association with BMW’s past as an airplane manufacturer, this perception just took off. Since then, it has been repeated several times in the media, most notably in 1942 when a similar advertisement appeared in the “Flugmotoren-Nachrichten” or “Aircraft Engine News” magazine, published by BMW.
According to Jakobs, “BMW made little attempt for a very long time to dispel the idea that the BMW emblem is a propeller.”
Jakobs added that although it isn’t entirely incorrect, calling the BMW symbol a representation of an airplane propeller isn’t entirely accurate either. The identical idea was debunked in a 2010 New York Times piece, yet for some reason, the belief has persisted.
This interpretation has been widely accepted for 90 years, therefore it has developed some validity over time, continued Jakobs.
Hopefully the record will be cleared up once and for all with the company’s official statement from its internal monthly.
In This Article...
BMW brand overview and logo history
Bayerische Motoren Werke, also known as the BMW brand, is a German automobile manufacturer that was first established in 1916. The company is also in charge of making Mini and Rolls-Royce automobiles.
Along with Mercedes Benz and Audi, BMW is one of the most popular luxury car brands worldwide.
Due to BMW’s roots in the field of aircraft engineering, many people initially thought the white and blue shapes of the BMW emblem were meant to depict a spinning propeller. The brand’s blue and white hues, however, truly stand for Bavaria, the nation from which it originated.
The state colors of Bavaria, white and blue, are displayed in the inner circle quarters of the BMW symbol, but they are displayed in the opposite order. This was done on purpose because, at the time the BMW emblem was designed, using state colors was illegal under trademark law.
The BMW logo’s history
blue and white interior. dark borders around it. The letters BMW are on it. This has been the universal representation of pure driving pleasure for more than 90 years. But how did this logo come about? In the video above, the BMW crew started looking for hints.
The most contentious matter facing the firm is the genuine significance of the “sky blue and white quartered” BMW logo. Dr. Florian Triebel, a member of the executive board at BMW AG, “Regarding the meaning of the BMW trademark and emblem, there are two traditions that offer two distinct interpretations of its sky blue and white fields. One interpretation suggests a propeller in motion. The second links the BMW mark to Bavaria, where the company’s products are made “.
According to legend, the round shape of a revolving airplane propeller served as inspiration for the modern BMW emblem. The stylised image of a white/silver propeller blade whirling against a clean blue sky is intended to be represented by the white and blue checker boxes.
The BMW logo’s association with the Bavarian flag’s colors and the company’s roots was considered “a lucky coincidence” by BMW. The Trademark Act forbade the use of “national coats of arms or other emblems of national sovereignty” in trademarks at the time the BMW logo was initially designed. The BMW marketers responded by “incorrectly organizing the color parts in the BMW logo from a heraldic standpoint,” maintaining the brand’s association with Bavaria while doing so.
BMW has confirmed this, thanks to the NY Times: “I wrote about visiting four German auto museums in the Automobiles section of last Sunday’s newspaper. My amiable tour guide Anne Schmidt-Possiwal at the BMW Museum in Munich clarified that the blue and white business emblem was not intended to depict a spinning propeller but rather the colors of the Free State of Bavaria.”
Description
The BMW logo is made up of four blue and white quadrants that are encircled by a circle. Every quadrant is colored white and blue to represent the Bavarian Free State. At the top of the circle, you can see the letters BMW.
They represent the 191-year-old Bayerische Motoren Werke. Since then, nothing has changed. Although the emblem is a reminder that the firm produced military aircraft during World War I, it has nothing to do with the manufacture of aircraft.
The real meaning of BMW’s emblem is revealed
What is the meaning of the BMW logo to you? Many people think it represents a propeller, but is this truly true? Wonder no more, as BMW has revealed the significance of its blue and white logo design (opens in new tab).
Of course, the BMW is often associated with aggressive drivers who roar up behind them on the highway and flash their lights while requesting to be let to pass (although, to be fair, Audi has recently usurped BMW in that regard). The next time a BMW emblem appears in your rearview mirror, though, you won’t have to ponder what it represents.
Previously known as Rapp, the company built aircraft engines for the German Air Force, or Luftwaffe, for the first few years of its existence before adopting its current name in 1917. Rapp’s previous logo included a chess piece knight silhouette encircled by a black ring containing the company name. For its new logo, the company kept the black ring but added the now-famous blue and white design in quarters.
The new look was created to showcase the company’s Bavarian background; the Bavarian flag also has a blue and white striped design, and there was a strong desire for Bavarian independence from Germany at the time BMW was founded. The corporate name, BMW, which is short for Bayerische Motoren Werke or Bavarian Motor Works, also expresses support for independence.
So where did the concept of a propeller come from? BMW claims that it all began with an advertisement that was printed in 1929, back when the company was still making airplane engines, and showed an airplane with the BMW emblem overlaid over the propeller. A similar illustration in a 1942 BMW magazine strengthened the relationship, and legend has since flourished from there.
Even though the firm hasn’t had anything to do with the aircraft industry in a very long time, BMW acknowledges that it hasn’t really made much of an attempt to dispel the misconception surrounding its emblem. It’s just a cute little pub fact that doesn’t hurt and promotes the BMW brand.
However, it’s important to understand the complete significance of the logo. To learn more and to see how the BMW logo has changed through time, see this article on the corporate website (opens in new tab).
Which represents BMW cars in reality?
The BMW logo, complete with the four colored quadrants, is shown on a spinning airplane propeller in a 1929 BMW advertisement. Since then, the idea that the BMW emblem symbolizes a propeller has persisted
What symbolism does the BMW logo hold?
The whirling airplane blades that make up the BMW logo’s centre portion represent the company’s early heritage of aviation technology.
How does BMW work?
Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH, or the Bavarian Engine Works Company, is what the abbreviation BMW stands for. The corporation was founded in the German state of Bavaria, hence the name. Additionally, it shows the original product line of BMW: different application-specific engines
Why did BMW modify their logo?
2020 was a big deal for many different reasons. Among other things, it turned out to be the year of the new automobile emblem, with manufacturers ranging from Nissan to Rolls-Royce announcing new designs that are nearly all characterized by the word “flat.” But a year ago this month, the first one to be shown was arguably the greatest of the group.
BMW’s new logo, which was unveiled in March of last year, is a translucent, flat reworking of its once metallic insignia. To achieve a clean, modern appearance, the traditional outer black ring has been eliminated and replaced with pure transparency. Both the circle pattern and the Bavarian state colors of white and blue are still present.
The straightforward design has a lot of appeal to us. Its simplicity suggests that it has been updated with digital use in mind, but it also recognizes the 103-year history of the brand, making it a strong example of both traditional and modern logo design. While there was some initial skepticism online, it quickly became apparent that the transparent design is perfect for both physical and digital uses, like the entertaining reveal video above.
BMW is evolving into a relationship brand, according to senior vice president of customer and brand Jens Thiemer. additionally intended to “radiate more openness and clarity,” the transparent logo.
Since then, BMW has added the 2020 design to its history of the logo page (opens in new tab). The boldness of this redesign becomes more apparent when viewed in context (below), where the elimination of the black ring seems to be the most significant alteration to the emblem since 1917.
We were especially intrigued in the article’s clarification of the widespread myth that the emblem itself symbolizes a propeller when BMW initially published it in 2019 (opens in new tab). This was inspired by a 1929 advertisement (below), which included the logo inside a moving airplane propeller to advertise a new aviation engine BMW was developing.
According to the report, “sticking to the story that the BMW is a propeller would not be altogether inaccurate” because BMW “for a long time made little effort to refute the myth that the BMW insignia is a propeller.” It’s refreshing to hear a company say that its logo may be whatever you want it to be in a world of bureaucracy and impossible-to-follow rules.
Considering that Renault quietly unveiled a new design just last week, it appears that the flat vehicle logo trend will persist beyond 2021. The unveiling of Kia’s new logo may have been the silliest ever, with the company’s spectacular ceremony outdoing even the most lavish New Year’s celebrations.
What does the BMW M logo represent?
M GmbH, which stands for Motorsport and is the name of BMW’s performance division, has been in existence since the 1970s. When it was first established, the department concentrated all of its engineering expertise on building race cars. However, as the brand soon yearned to expand operations into the high-performance market, BMW permitted the creation of M-branded cars for the general public. The M1 was the first M automobile made accessible to the general public; it was a mid-engine race car with a very thin veneer of comforts.
The M recipe evolved throughout time; instead of creating pure street racers, they opted to push the edge and create vehicles that are not only as quick and maneuverable as certain racecars, but also provide comfort and high-tech amenities often found in luxury automobiles.
Today, M produces high-performance versions of almost all of the vehicles offered by BMW. Let’s explore everything the M Series has to offer.