A History of Chrysler's logos

Also see Dodge logos and hood ornaments and Plymouth logos and hood ornaments

AMC

The original AMC logo was an “AM” in script, with the A leading into the M; in 1970 the “A-Mark” logo replaced the older script. The A-Mark would remain AMC’s trademark until AMC itself disappeared.

DeSoto

The original logo is believed to be Hernando DeSoto's coat of arms, and turned up in more and more diluted form until the end in 1961, by which time it was reduced to the cross mark seen in the middle of the 1960-1961 wheelcover.

A brief attempt at a different stylized logo showed up in the middle of the 1958 Adventurer wheel cover and later on the front bumper, trunk lid and steering wheel center of the entire 1959 DeSoto line. This is another abstract figure that looks somewhat like an eagle with a conquistador's helmet.

Andy added: "The DeSoto's coat of arms isn't the only badge for this line, as there's been also a portrait of Sr. Hernando against a circular 'sombrero' shape in the early Fifties."

Jeep

Jeep started out as a military vehicle and was later a Willys-Overland model; it’s “logo” was the word "Jeep," in the same typeface from civilian introduction in 1946 well into the 1960s. The closest thing to a Jeep logo appeared in 1963 in the center of Wagoneer and Gladiator hubcaps and steering wheels, as Kaiser changed from Willys Motors to Kaiser Jeep Corporation and established Jeep as a stand-alone brand name. This emblem was a circle (in some illustrations looking vaguely like a stylized rendition of a Warn locking hub) with two gold quarters, two red quarters, and the "Jeep" name across the middle. After AMC's purchase of Jeep in 1971, the gold was replaced by blue. In 2004, Jeep started using an advertising logo based on the image of the Wrangler, but this was not used in the cars themselves.

Chrysler

by Mike Sealey

The original Chrysler logo, which vanished after 1954 from all but 1955-1956 Windsors, C300s, and 300Bs with manual transmissions*, and reappeared in 1994, is a rendition of a wax seal with ribbon affixed at the lower right.

The thunderbolts above and below the name are actually "Z"s, a tribute to the prototype built before Chrysler took over Maxwell, which took the name "Zeder" from chief engineer Fred Zeder. (At the time, Chrysler was trying to keep development of the new car and his involvement in it a secret, possibly still upset about the loss of the car that was supposed to be the first Chrysler. This car design was sold to Billy Durant as a liquidated asset in the Willys-Overland bankruptcy; Durant eventually built this car under the Flint name.)

From 1955 to the early 1980s, various stylized coats of arms appeared as Chrysler logos, none of which are believed to be the Chrysler (originally Kreussler) family crest. For example, this 1950s New Yorker boasted a coat of arms:

Lions also turned up in Chrysler emblems from 1955-1961, during which time Chrysler engines bore names such as "Golden Lion 413". Crowns are another recurring theme, fitting for a make with model names such as Royal, Windsor and Imperial.

* The manual-transmission cars kept the 1953-1954 steering column as well as the gearshift.

Starting in the 1980s, Chrysler adopted “modernistic” logos in print materials and on some car nameplates.

During the “rebirth” of Chrysler in the late 1990s, the Chrysler “seal” logo was installed in wings.

After Cerberus bought Chrysler, Trevor Creed was let loose on the traditional pentastar.

Shortly after the Fiat takeover, Chrysler trademarked another new logo, based on a modernized wing design:

Imperial (Dave Duricy)

The Chrysler Imperial became truly Imperial with the introduction of the 1926 Chrysler Imperial E-80. Although bigger, faster, and more costly than standard Chryslers, the E-80 used Chrysler's standard winged helmet as a radiator mascot and the Chrysler gold seal for badging.

Around 1929, the Roman fasces was adopted as the exclusive Chrysler Imperial logo. The fasces, an axe bundled within rods, was the visual representation of Roman "imperium" or power; the rods for scourging, the axe for beheading. 

When Chrysler introduced its Classic 1931 models, the logo seems to have been changed to a pair of fasces, one carried below the other, with a flowing, double banner draped across both declaring “Chrysler Imperial.”

The fasces has been a standard element in western symbolism standing for republicanism and law and order. It's found in the state seals of U. S. states, coins, the Lincoln Memorial, even the Knights of Columbus emblem.

Unfortunately, Italian fascists appropriated the fasces back in 1919, which must have become awkward for the Chrysler Imperial as the Thirties progressed. As far as I can tell, 1933 was the last time Imperial displayed the fasces.

In the mid-1950s, the Imperial logo was a simple gold crown (see below).

Probably the most famous Imperial logo, the eagle, was designed by John Samsen. It first appeared on the 1962 hood ornament, reappearing in 1964 not only on the hood but in the middle of the rear bumper as well, and staying until 1975 (the black outline, matching the hood ornament above, was from 1969).

This version reappeared on the 1978-1981 M-body LeBaron, and on the 1989-1993 Chrysler Imperial.

Valiant

[Webmaster] The Valiant remained its own brand in Australia for some time, using a unique logo. Valiant was a brand in the United States for roughly one year.

In the United States, Valiant used a stylized version of its name as a logo, later switching to the Plymouth rocket.

The Valiant logo is designed to look like a V, while the Plymouth logo (shown at right) is more of a triangle.

Fargo

The Fargo logo was a representation of the globe from the beginning. (Fargo was originally Chrysler's homegrown truck line, built from Plymouth and DeSoto components, and planned to be sold by Chrysler dealers in the US before Chrysler's acquisition of Dodge.)

Fargos were only sold by US dealerships from 1929 to 1931, but the division remained in existence for fleet sales and export. Some 1930s Plymouth passenger cars purchased by the US Army were badged as Fargos.

In 1936, Chrysler Canada brought the Fargo name back for trucks sold by Canadian Chrysler-Plymouth dealers. From 1936 to 1972, Canadians probably bought more Fargos than any other export market. Nonetheless, the globe logo was perfect for Chrysler's export truck line, as Fargo was known the world over as Chrysler's truck.

Eagle

It's an eagle.

DPCD

The four Chrysler makes at the time this logo was created were Dodge, Plymouth, Chrysler and DeSoto. Parts from the 1930s were accompanied by a series of banners from each letter telling what it stood for.

Dan Stern wrote: “It's a logo that appeared on many Chrysler parts well after DeSoto had disappeared. There has been some speculation that the extended stem of the P is supposed to be an "I" for "Imperial", but I have never seen a variant that made any effort to stylise the P-stem to make it clear it's a separate letter (I), and if I'm not mistaken the logo was introduced before there was an Imperial division.

The Pentastar

The Pentastar was created by Robert Stanley, at the Lippincott & Marguiles design firm. He wanted, according to his blog entry, “something simple, a classic, dynamic but stable shape for a mark that would lend itself to a highly designed, styled product. What that meant, basically, was a classic geometric form. We wanted something that was not stolid. That’s the reason that we broke up the pentagonal form that became the Pentastar. It provides a certain tension and a dynamic quality.” [This was reversed by Trevor Creed].

The [original] Pentastar was selected from more than 800 suggestions that a team from the design firm of Lippincott & Margulies Inc. proposed to the company.

“We were looking for something that would not be too complicated for people to remember and still have a very strong, engineered look to it,” said Robert Stanley. “We wanted something people could look at and say, ‘This was not done freehand.’”

In Chrysler’s annual report, they noted “A new Corporate Identity Office was established to be concerned with the manner in which the company identifies and visually presents itself and its products to the public. The [pentastar] emblem portrayed on the cover was developed as part of this broad program.”

It first showed up in ads with the 1963 models, and started showing up on the 1963 cars behind the right front wheel, making its way to key blanks with the 1964 models. Prior to that, the Chrysler corporate logo was a pair of V-shapes, usually shown pointing to the right, part of Virgil Exner's "Forward Look" school of design. The new pentastar logo was also used on the front cover of the 1962 Annual Report — as an embossed cover (without any ink to set it off) — and on the back cover, in a deep blue.

In 1963, Bob Hope’s variety show (sponsored by the Chrysler Corporation) included opening graphics showing the segments of the Pentastar zooming into place with vroom-vroom noises, each piece accompanied by a callout of a brand - Plymouth, Dodge, Chrysler, Imperial, and Dodge trucks. However, Bill Watson wrote noted that the five points do not stand for the five car divisions; at the time, Chrysler sold cars (Valiant, Plymouth, Dodge, Chrysler, Imperial, Hillman, Sunbeam, Singer, Humber, Simca), trucks (Dodge, Fargo, DeSoto, Commer, Karrier, Barreiros), industrial and marine engines, boats, army tanks, air conditioners, heating systems, chemicals, plastics, missiles, electronics, and financial products.  He also noted that the design would be recognizable no matter which way you looked at it, even if the design was flipped or looked at upside down.

A Chrysler press release noted:

The Pentastar was created in 1962 when Chrysler Corporation President Lynn Townsend decided the company needed a new symbol to represent all of the corporation’s brands. Townsend wanted a symbol with a strong, classic look that would be instantly recognizable, but was universal—without written words—allowing it to be used in all countries and across many cultures. The Pentastar was selected from more than 800 suggestions that a team from the design firm of Lippincott & Margulies Inc. proposed to the company.

“We were looking for something that would not be too complicated for people to remember and still have a very strong, engineered look to it,” said Robert Stanley, the Detroit office vice president and Chrysler account executive at Lippincott & Margulies, who is credited with creating the Pentastar. “We wanted something people could look at and say, ‘This was not done freehand.’”

Stanley also created the former blue color scheme for the symbol, and the name for the design.

Cerberus Chrysler logo (2007)

The Pentastar, dropped as a corporate symbol by Daimler, returned in 2007 with modifications by Trevor Creed, who fused the ends of the five triangles to enclose the star, raised the triangles toward the center, and added a “brush” texture. “We wanted to give the mark a look of extremely high quality,” Creed said. “We closed up the gaps in geometric unity and added a sense of solidity that gave the star shape a much slimmer, high-quality, precise appearance.”

Above: original Robert Stanley logo and color. Right: Trevor Creed’s 2007 remake.

Steven Landry, Executive Vice President—North America Sales and Marketing, Service and Parts, said, “The Pentastar represents all the pride that employees feel for the 82-year -history of Chrysler and the confidence we have in our new direction... Even during the past decade, the Pentastar never disappeared. The Pentastar literally towered over the company and employees [on top of the CTC], and has been a source of pride.”

“I do not envision us using this mark on our products, only on buildings, signage, corporate stationery and business cards,” Creed said.

In 1996, the company’s new headquarters in Auburn Hills included an office tower crowned by a two-story-high glass Pentastar. After the 1998 takeover by Daimler, the Pentastar was removed as the corporate symbol, and rumor has it that Daimler executives demanded to have it removed from the office tower, but that the cost was high enough to be scandalous.

Also see Dodge logos and hood ornaments, a history of Mopar logos, and Plymouth logos and hood ornaments

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