It is well known that it was Max Hoffman, Porsche's importer for the United States, who encouraged Ferry Porsche in the early 1950s to create a crest that would identify the brand's vehicles at first glance while recalling a quality label that was highly valued across the Atlantic.

In the spring of 1951, Porsche organized a competition among art and design schools, but no design was selected by the brand.

On April 25, 1952, in a restaurant in New York, in the presence of Max Hoffman, Ferry drew a sketch of the future Porsche logo on a napkin. Legend has it that Max Hoffman even participated in the design of the logo.

Like all legends, the veracity of the facts is impossible to verify.

Photo source: www.6speedonline.com


The emblem of the brand is in fact a mixture of several coats of arms.

The sketch features a prancing mare in the middle of the crest, which represents the emblem of the city of Stuttgart, with the name of the city above.
Coat of arms of Stuttgart - Photo source: Wikipedia


The horizontal red and black colors are those of the state of Württemberg, while the deer antlers come from the coat of arms of the House of Württemberg, a Germanic royal family.
Coat of arms of the state of Württemberg -Source photo: Wikipedia


Finally, the future logo is capped with the inscription "PORSCHE".
Ferry requested Franz Xaver Reimspiess, a designer working for Porsche and creator of the Volkswagen logo in 1936, to finish or create the logo based on his ideas.

Source photo : https://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de


Afterwards, the coat of arms didn't change much when compared to the above model of Franz Xaver Reimspiess. The only significant changes are the curved inscription "PORSCHE" at the top of the crest and the gold background which replaced the yellow color.

A completely different version of the Porsche crest's authorship was attributed to designer Erwin Komenda, who designed the VW Beetle and the Porsche 356, as well as the early 911 design. Erwin Komenda's granddaughter is said to have a letter proving that her grandfather is the creator of the Porsche crest, and in his biography, Ferry Porsche also acknowledges the paternity of the crest to Erwin Komenda.

Other publications, dealing with emblems and coats of arms, support this view.

As we have just seen, the paternity of the Porsche crest is very difficult to establish with certainty, however it was first created in 1952 and has evolved very subtly over time.



Initially, the Porsche logo was found on the horn of the steering wheel of Porsche 356 pre-A. Then, at the end of 1954, it appeared on the handle of the front hood and in 1959 on the wheel covers of the Porsche 356.
Since then, these three locations are decorated with the Porsche crest on all models of the brand. Furthermore, for quite some time now, the coat of arms has also been embossed on the headrests of the seats or on the center console.

In 1963, with the arrival of the 911, the crest grew larger but for the most part, it is similar to that of the Porsche 356.

In 1973, with the presentation of the 911 G Series, the crest was modified. The bright red stripes became darker red and the mare was less defined.

In 1994, the coat of arms altered yet again, the mare became more stylized with leaner legs, while the name of the city of Stuttgart became less prominent. The colored stripes were slightly more spaced out and the brand name was highlighted with thin black lettering.

In 2008, the brand name got more pronounced and the gold background of the crest became slightly more matte. The red stripes were once again slightly darker again than previously.

As of 2014, the gold background of the Stuttgart shield has been made more glittery again, making the mare stand out more distinctively.

Today, as part of Porsche's Heritage Design strategy, the crests on the hood, steering wheel and rims are similar to those on the early Porsche 911s from 1963.

The key features of this historic Porsche crest are the gold Porsche lettering, the red plus orange stripes and the fact that the mare looks slightly different.

Source photo : Porsche


Christian G.