The History Of the Ferrari Logo.

One of the most recognizable logos in the world is the simple prancing hose that is
featured as a trademark symbol of the magnificent ​Ferrari​ automobiles. They vehicles
embody elegance, class, style and power. Although the logo may appear simplistic,
there is really quite a history behind it and it is one that is well worth retelling. Each
element of the Ferrari logo has significance and meaning for the founders of the empire.
Unless you know the story behind it, they may not mean a lot. There is a fascinating
story that explains the significance of the horse.

Ferrari's famous rampant stallion can be traced as far back as 1692. In was in this year
that Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy, founded the Royal Piedmont Regiment, one of
the most glorious cavalry outfits of Piedmont and Italy. The Regiment adopted fire-red
as its colours to be displayed on lapels, handcuffs, and on a strip down trouser legs,
while its insignia was a rampant stallion like Ferrari. More than two centuries later Italy
would form its first airborne squadron during World War I. One of the first cavalry
officers to join the squadron the famous World War I ace was Francesco Baracca. His
ancestors served in the original Regiment and to honour them he had the rampant
horse painted on the fuselage of his biplane, a symbol that was to become
acknowledged as his own personal coat-of-arms. There is actually another fascinating
story told to account for the origins of the Ferrari trade-mark. It seems that fighter pilots
had the custom of having their vanquished adversaries' heraldic devices painted on the
fuselage of the aeromobiles. According to the alternative story, the symbol with which
Baracca is so closely associated was depicted on the fuselage of his biplane after he
had shoot down an enemy pilot from Stuttgart, a town whose heraldic device is a black
rampant stallion. Indeed, Ferrari's equine figure displays the same upturned tail.

The Porsche trade-mark is also adorned by the figure of the Stuttgart mare. Be it as it
may, the only official painting depicting Francesco Baracca and his biplane was done by
Ettore Graziani of Bologna and in this picture, or at least in the postcard his parents had
made up after their son's death, the horse is incomplete as its rear end is cut out. In any
case, in 1923 this symbol of speed and bravery was entrusted by Enrico and Paolina
Baracca to the winner of the "Circuito automobilistico del Savio" ("Savio racing car
circuit") race in Ravenna, Enzo Ferrari, for him to carry on the memory of their son who
had died in combat on Mount Montello near Treviso during the Great War.

In 1929 Enzo Ferrari opened the "Scuderia Ferrari" ("Ferrari Stable") in Modena as a
mechanical racing car workshop and subsidiary of Alfa Romeo. Then, in 1943, the
house was moved not far from Modena to Maranello on land owned by Ferrari. The little
black horse standing on only one hind leg with is tail characteristically upturned was set
against a canary-yellow (the colour of Modena) background with an upper border
bearing the national colours of Italy. The iconic device started appearing on all of the
Scuderia publications,
signs, letter-headed
paper, and official
documents, but not on
the cars themselves that
continued to sport the
Alfa Romeo trade-mark.
The championship
shield on the cars first
put in its appearance at
the 1932 edition of the
24-hours of Spa in
Belgium, in which
motor-racing
competition Scuderia
Ferrari had entered two
cars. In 1947 Enzo
Ferrari began making the cars that were to carry his name. In addition to the
shield-shaped trademark a square trade-mark with the founder's family name was also
designed.

The Ferrari Family/ Enzo Ferrari

Enzo Anselmo Ferrari was born on February 18, 1898, in Modena, Italy. The second
child of parents Adalgisa and Alfredo, a metal worker, Ferrari was bitten by the racing
bug at age 10, when his dad took him to watch a motor car race in Bologna.

Ferrari also dreamed of becoming an opera singer, but the deaths of his father and
brother from the flu in 1916 forced him to grow up quickly, and he left school to become
an instructor for Modena's fire service workshop. Ferrari joined the Italian Army in 1917
and shoed mules for the 3rd Alpine Artillery Division, enduring his own serious battle
with the flu before earning an honorable discharge.

Driving Career
In 1919, Enzo Ferrari moved to Milan to work as a test driver for Costruzioni
Meccaniche Nazionali. Given the chance to compete with the company's racing team,
he made his debut at the 1919 Parma-Poggio di Berceto hillclimb race, finishing fourth
in his division. He left CMN the following year to join Alfa Romeo.

After winning the Circuito del

Savio in 1923, Ferrari met the
parents of World War I flying
ace Francesco Baracca, who
suggested the young driver
use the emblem that
decorated their son's plane
for good luck. The emblem —
a prancing horse —
eventually came to represent
the power and prestige of the
Ferrari marque. That year,
Ferrari also married Laura
Dominica Garello​.
 ​ New Start
A
In 1929, he pulled together his own team of drivers and engineers for his Scuderia
Ferrari (Ferrari Stable). Comprised mainly of Alfa Romeos, the ​scuderia​ soon became
the official racing arm of the automaker.

Ferrari competed in his final race in August 1931, and became a father with the birth of
his beloved son Dino in January 1932. Although he scored a huge victory with one of
his cars at the 1935 German Grand Prix, he had to close his ​scuderia​ in 1937 when Alfa
Romeo reclaimed its racing division. He left the company for good in September 1939,
with the stipulation he could not use the Ferrari name in association with racing or cars
for at least four years.

Soon after leaving Alfa Romeo, Enzo Ferrari opened Auto Avio Costruzioni in Modena
and sought to develop his own racing cars, but the outbreak of World War II led to
government intervention. The company moved its factory to nearby Maranello, where it
focused on building grinding machines.

Ferrari resumed designing racing cars at the conclusion of the war, and in March 1947
he took the first official Ferrari, the 125 S, out for a test-drive. The marque scored its
first win that year, at the Rome Grand Prix, and went on to notch victories at the Mille
Miglia in 1948, the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1949 and the British Grand Prix in 1951. In
1952 and 1953, Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari won the world racing championship.
Around this time, the company also began producing cars for road use, with the rich and
famous lining up for a chance to purchase one of these dazzling vehicles.

Turn for the Worst

Despite rocketing to the top of the racing industry in the 1950s, Enzo Ferrari endured
immense personal turmoil during this period. The biggest blow was the death of his son
Dino from muscular dystrophy in 1956, a devastating loss that turned him into a recluse.
In addition, six of his drivers were killed between 1955 and 1965, and he was even tried
for manslaughter (and acquitted) after one of his cars careened into the roadside crowd
at the 1957 Mille Miglia and killed nine spectators. Ferrari lost the services of several
top engineers and executives in the "Palace Revolt" of 1961, reportedly after a dust-up
over the intruding presence of his wife. Two years later, he engaged in serious talks
with the Ford Motor Company about merging their operations, before pulling out at the
last minute due to concerns over a loss of control. He eventually did cede some control
of the company in 1969, when financial issues prompted him to sell a 50-percent stake
to Fiat.
His Death And Legacy
Enzo Ferrari formally resigned as president of his company in 1977, although
he effectively retained control of the business. Following the death of his wife
in 1978, he admitted to fathering another son, Piero, with his mistress Lina
Lardi in 1945.

Shortly after being conferred an honorary degree in physics from the

University of Modena, Ferrari died on August 14, 1988, in Maranello; no cause
of death was given, although he was known to be suffering from kidney
disease. Over the course of his lifetime, his cars won more than 4,000 races
and claimed 13 world championships. In recognition of his accomplishments,
he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994.