BMW Logo: History, Design, and Transformation
How well do you know the BMW logo? Did you know that the BMW logo shows a plane propeller? Or does it?
In this post, we unpack the history and evolution of the BMW logo and uncover what makes the BMW logo such an iconic brand identity asset.
Read on to learn the truth behind the myth and find out what lies at the core of BMW branding.
Origins & Overview of the BMW Brand
The BMW brand emerged from the ashes of the Rapp Motorenwerke company.
Rapp Motorenwerke was an aircraft engine manufacturer in Munich, the capital city of the German state of Bavaria. The company was established in 1913 to design and manufacture aircraft engines for various arms of the German military.
While none of its first few engines won any favors from the military — for being unsuitable and faulty —, the company kept receiving orders from the German Navy and the Bavarian army.
The First World War was looming and the military administrations were struggling from a lack of proper aircraft engines. They kept hoping that if they sent these new companies more orders, the incoming capital would help them innovate at scale and strengthen the German war effort.
The plans didn’t come to fruition though. While the company certainly expanded, none of its engines worked. One after the other, all military branches ceased their orders and the production almost stopped.
Before the company could shut down its operations, however, things changed in 1916.
Franz Josef Popp arrived at the scene
Franz Josef Popp, an Austrian electrical engineer, lobbied to use the Rapp Motorenwerke facilities to manufacture 12-cylinder Austro-Daimler aircraft engines that several militaries across Germany and Austria were in love with.
Franz Josef Popp – Jan 1886 to Jul 1954
However, since no engineering facilities in Austria or Hungary were large enough or equipped enough to make these engines, they were always in short supply and not considered a sustainable solution to the army’s aircraft needs.
But Franz Josef Popp changed that.
Under his supervision, breakthroughs started happening, resulting in the development of the first BMW Type III engine.
The Name Change
In 1917, Rapp Motorenwerke was renamed Bayerische Motoren Werke (Bavarian Motor Works).
Karl Rapp was asked to leave as his subpar engines had held the company back all those years.
Max Friz assumed the role of chief designer and Franz Josef Popp took over the post of managing director.
In October 1917, the Bavarian Motor Works company released its first logo design, giving birth to one of the most high-profile acronyms in the world: BMW.
The BMW logo history can trace its roots to the Rapp Motorenwerke logo design.
Rapp Motorenwerke to Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW)
It used the round shield of the Rapp Motorenwerke logo; borrowed its two rings; and copied the brand name placement too.
But that’s where the similarities end.
The historic BMW logo is much livelier than the Rapp logo with its electric blue color and prominent gold lettering. The black is also a shade richer and the contrast makes the design pop beautifully.
The inner white and blue quadrants represent the state colors of Bavaria but in inverse order. Inverse because the state law prohibits using state or national symbols on commercial logos.
But is there a propellor in the design, as the popular myth claims?
Alas, no. The blue and white quadrants may look like a rotating propeller, thanks to this BMW ad, but what you see is more because of a marketing decision than a meaningful identity design choice.
The marketers showed the BMW logo on top of the propellor to establish the company’s roots and connection to aircraft engine manufacturing. The image stuck since then and BMW did nothing to dispel the myth.
BMW ad in 1929
If anything, it hypermarketed it by illustrating a similar image in another story in its internal magazine Flugmotoren-Nachrichten (Aircraft Engine News).
BMW logo on aircraft propellers in a 1929 ad
BMW Logo Evolution
The evolution of the BMW logo is characterized by font and color changes while staying true to the core of the BMW badge.
Evolution of BMW Logo -1917- Present
• 1917
The newly minted BMW logo was unveiled on October 5, 1917. It borrowed heavily from its predecessor, the Rapp Motorenwerke logo.
BMW logo design borrowed heavily from the Rapp Motor logo in 1917
The outer rings, the name around the badge, and the color black were all details from the Rapp Motorenwerke logo and were used to create the first BMW insignia.
The few differences included the gold color around the rings, the inverse colors of the Bavarian flag, and the serif font for the BMW name. The stars from the Rapp Motorenwerke logo were also dropped to create a clearer, more simplified look.
• 1933
In 1933, the BMW car logo was modernized for the first time.
BMW logo design in 1933
Thicker outer rings were created to make the gold obvious and more prominent. It also made the design look more noticeable and confident. The Bavarian blue and white colors looked striking with the gold contrast in the background.
Compared to the first BMW logo, this one was chicer and sleekier. Although the font was still a traditional serif, the lettering had personality now and the strokes had an imposing, resolute feel.
• 1953
The year saw the BMW logo transformation from a brilliant blue design to a more pastel, muted aqua.
BMW logo design in 1953
The design still looked chic and minimal, but the paring down resulted in the BMW badge losing some of its panache and personality. The thicker framing was eliminated for sleeker, elegant silver lines.
The BMW logo font received an upgrade too. Edges ended in defined serifs with distinct forms and powerful cuts.
The new logo communicated BMW’s progress from a traditional, heritage brand to something electric, ice-cold refreshing, and poised for the future.
• 1963
The BMW badge returns to its azure roots.
BMW logo design in 1963
The move back to blue signaled that the brand was not giving up on its tradition and legacy any time soon. The stronger personality of the vivid blue allowed BMW to assert itself as a brand with a long tradition of automotive excellence and exquisite craftsmanship.
Using its logo’s iconic details — the two-toned quadrants, for example — and pairing them with newer elements like a sophisticated sans-serif font allowed BMW to have its cake and eat it too.
It made the BMW logo a design powerhouse. It showcased a design that was strong enough to combine classical details while staying true to its contemporary, scientific future.
• 1997
We see the BMW logo transformation take on a whole new meaning. The immersion of 3D boosted the logo design with a new personality, character, and shine!
BMW logo design in 3D, made in 1997
The white in the quadrants became more eggshell white than pure white. It somehow helped the logo appear mature — like a symbol that’s been here a while, with the sheen of the newness gone, and replaced with something more substantial, like character and grit.
The 3D effects also helped the logo look superimposed and powerful. The rings around the thick black frame also have a silver-blue color gradient, coming very close to grey. The overall look is polished, pristine, and professional.
This new BMW logo was launched in 1997 and has been going strong for around 27 years.
• 2020
In 2020, BMW launched a new logo. This grey and white logo was designed exclusively for brand communication purposes. Internal messaging, public relations, digital media presence, and the like.
BMW logo design in 2020, created strictly for brand communication
The logo was created in flat design to ensure its flexibility in print marketing.
The blue and white quadrants were kept the same so as not to mess with the brand’s most distinct details.
Key Elements of the BMW Badge
What does the BMW logo look like when we analyze its parts? Do any of the parts have a story to tell? Here are the key branding ingredients for the BMW logo.
• The Shape: A Circular Badge
The BMW car logo is a circular emblem type of logo. In shape psychology, circles represent symmetry and perfection. Their continuity reflects a sense of timelessness, of being whole and infinite. With no interruptions or disruptions.
BMW Logo – The Circular Badge
Since the circle is embedded in a badge/seal design — shapes that embody authority, legacy, and credibility — the BMW logo represents a legacy that is here to continue. The logo design reinforces the company’s commitment to excellent craftsmanship, science, and engineering that people have come to trust and expect.
By bringing the circle and badge together, the BMW logo transforms from a corporate design identity image to a promise of a cutting-edge driving experience.
• Colors: Blue and White
The iconic color combination of blue and white in the BMW logo represents the colors of the Bavarian flag, in inverse order.
Blue and White in Bavarian Flag and BMW logo
Bavaria is a state in southern Germany, and it’s the birthplace of the BMW brand. In 1917, when the company was looking for its first logo design, it decided to use the state’s official colors on the logo in an attempt to establish belongingness and connection.
However, due to a trademark law not allowing state symbols to be used as corporate logos, BMW bypassed the law by inversing the color order on the logo design.
• Typeface: BMW Helvetica
BMW uses a proprietary variant of the famous Helvetica typeface as its official logo font. Or so this post on The Verge says.
BMW itself is quite mum on the matter. We looked far and wide, but couldn’t find any official communication from the car company declaring the font on its wordmark design.
BMW Helvetica
However, confirming The Verge story is an article by Dafont — an online font gallery. It says that BMW has been using a unique variation of Helvetica Bold as their logo font since 1957, almost instantly after the font was created by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann, two typeface designers from Switzerland.
While the date does not seem right — the new BMW logo with the sans-serif font was released in 1963 not 1957 —, the font certainly looks more Helvetica than anything else.
A little about Helvetica:
Helvetica is a popular sans-serif font and designs brilliant-looking typeface environments. It’s clean, minimal, and elegant. Though designers now shy away from Helvetica as it has been overused in corporate branding and communication, don’t let the trend get in your way of experimenting with Helvetica and designing a variation that works for you.
Several brands other than BMW use Helvetica in their logos. These include Nestle, American Airlines, Panasonic, and more.
• Brand Emotions: Prestige & Thrill
BMW designs and builds extraordinary cars that redefine driving, motion, and speed. The cars are luxurious vehicles, with no one BMW matching the other in its entirety. Every BMW car is customized to reflect the owner’s personality, desires, and inspirations.
Each BMW is tailored to individual needs
From design to materials and technology to manufacturing, BMW is synonymous with cutting-edge car innovation and inspires a sense of pride and excitement in its fans. Whether you spot a BMW on the road or have one stationed in your driveway, it’s a car that characterizes the thrill of driving a prestigious, seamless machine.
• BMW Slogan: “Sheer Driving Pleasure.”
As popular brand slogans go, the BMW slogan is an emphatic depiction of what it can feel like driving a BMW car.
BMW’s Slogan: The ultimate driving machine
Thanks to the company’s innovation in luxurious car manufacturing and its insistence on customized vehicles, BMW has positioned itself as a car brand that’s first and foremost about providing its customers with the most thrilling driving experience possible.
That’s why the BMW tagline also emphasizes the spirit of delight and joy. What good is superior car manufacturing if it doesn’t come with the comfort and convenience of beautiful design?
As the brand continually innovates its custom car fittings, decor, and aesthetics, pleasure will continue to be a part of the BMW driving experience.
Want to learn how to create a perfect brand slogan? Check out this handy guide.
Your FAQs About the BMW Logo
Here are answers to your most asked questions about the history of the BMW logo and its evolution.
• What is the full meaning of BMW?
BMW stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke or Bavarian Motor Works. Bavaria is a state in southern Germany where the BMW company was founded.
• What does the BMW logo mean?
The BMW logo represents the authority, prestige, and credibility of exceptional automotive engineering and luxury car making. Its circular shied reflects the brand’s mastery over its craft. The BMW wordmark turns a complicated foreign name into a beautifully sounding short acronym.
The blue and white colors represent the Bavarian state colors in an inverse order. That is because the state’s trademark laws do not allow official state symbols to be used as corporate signs.
The intrinsic meaning of the BMW logo is trust and excellence, shining through its every design element.
• What is the story behind the BMW logo?
Many people believe the BMW logo is a stylized propellor, but that’s a common myth. It was first taken up in 1929 when BMW showed its logo design placed over rotating propellors in a newspaper ad. While the design was purely a marketing decision to show the company’s connection to aircraft engine making, the image stuck and took a life of its own.
BMW took advantage of it and used a similar illustration in one of its internal publications, further cementing the rumor.
• What is the inspiration for the BMW logo?
The inspiration behind the BMW logo is the Rapp Motornwerke logo. Rapp Motorenwerke was an aircraft engine manufacturing company that was later restructured to create BMW.
Both logo designs share many similarities including a round shield, two outer rings, a thick circular frame, and the company name placed around it.
The BMW logo also used all these details, tweaked them according to its needs, and added the Bavarian national colors to make the logo its own.
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