• Porsche Crests

The History of the Porsche Logo and Crest

Who designed the Porsche logo?

Although lettering with the name ‘Porsche’ first started featuring on the bonnets of sportscars made in Zuffenhausen in 1950, it would be three more years before the idea to create a genuine trademark began to take hold. It started when Porsche and Ottomar Domnick, a Stuttgart doctor and original Porsche customer, organised a design competition among German art academies in 1951. Although the prize pot was set at 1,000 Deutsche Mark, none of the submitted designs managed to win them over. Instead, another idea piqued the interest of Ferry Porsche… and it would come from New York City, the place where modern marketing, advertising and brand awareness was born.

It was here that Max Hoffman – an Austrian-born US car importer who specialised in European sportscars – played a crucial role in the idea to create a Porsche logo. After winning an award for the most interesting car at the Watkins Glen Concours d’Élégance for the first Porsche 356, which Hoffman imported to the US, he saw the potential to create a quality seal that would visually appeal to customers and create a unique identity. At a business dinner with Ferry Porsche in New York in 1951, Hoffman urged him to develop a symbol that reflected the company’s roots and conveyed the quality and dynamism of his products. His pitch patently struck a chord.

Drawing of Porsche Crest

What animal is on the Porsche logo?

For the design of the Porsche logo, Franz drew inspiration from Stuttgart’s city seal, which features a rearing horse, and incorporated this into the centre of the shield shape. Since Stuttgart itself was founded around 950AD as a centre of horse-breeding and stud farms, the animal was a fitting addition to the emblem. The word Stuttgart is in fact derived from a small ducal stud farm, ‘Stuotgarten’, which was situated near the Nesenbach stream in the area. The horse ultimately symbolises the power, agility and elegance of Porsche cars.

Man sketching Porsche crest

What do the Porsche logo’s colours represent?

While the horse represents strength, the red and black stripes on either side are reflective of the traditional crest colours of Württemberg-Hohenzollern. What’s more, the stylised antlers were also taken from the region’s coat of arms. To top it off, the name of the city that Porsche calls home is visible above the horse.

Versions of the Porsche crest

How has the Porsche logo changed over the years?

Franz Xaver Reimspiess’s design has shown to have incredible staying power across the decades. His Porsche logo was first seen on the steering wheel of the Porsche 356 in 1952, on hubcaps from 1959 and on on Porsche hoods from 1965. Although the design has gone through several revisions over the decades, the fundamental elements have remained the same – it’s been a case of light refinements and proportional adjustments. One notable outlier was when the race-ready 911 GT3 was given a painted Porsche badge in lieu of the traditional enamel-coasted logo. Shedding even this small amount of extra weight lent an advantage to the car’s speed when on the track.

And in June 2023, to tie in with the 75 years of Porsche sports cars anniversary, a new Porsche crest was unveiled – its seventh iteration. It’s been carefully modernised with minor revisions, but as with all previous examples, doesn’t stray too far from the essence of the original.

Evoluction of Porsche Crest

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