The history - and mystery - of the Chevrolet Bowtie

01.03.2011

Back to overview

Print   |  Word   |  Share This   | 

Chevrolet's bowtie logo has become internationally famous since it was introduced by company co-founder William C. Durant in 1913. At the time, Chevrolet was a mere two years' old, but already forging a path to become one of the world's major car manufacturers. The introduction of a clear, distinct badge for the fledging brand would instill a strong sense of identity in both the company and its customers alike. It is one that continues today.

The official version of how the logo came into existence is well-known. The story, as confirmed by William Durant himself, is that it was inspired by the wallpaper design in a Parisian hotel. According to The Chevrolet Story of 1961, an official company publication celebrating Chevrolet's 50^th anniversary, 'It originated in Durant's imagination when, as a world traveler in 1908, he saw the pattern marching off into infinity as a design on wallpaper in a French hotel. He tore off a piece of the wallpaper and kept it to show friends, with the thought that it would make a good nameplate for a car.'

However, there are conflicting accounts on its origin including, intriguingly, two from within the Durant family itself. In 1929, William Durant's daughter, Margery, published the book My Father. In it, she told how he sometimes doodled nameplate designs on pieces of paper at the dinner table. 'I think it was between the soup and the fried chicken one night that he sketched out the design that is used on the Chevrolet car to this day,' was her story about the birth of the bowtie.

Over half a century later however, yet another tale emerged, this time recounted in an issue of Chevrolet Pro Management Magazine from 1986. Interviewed 13 years previously, William's wife Catherine recalled how she and her husband were on holiday in Hot Springs, Virginia, U.S.A., in 1912. While reading a newspaper in their hotel room, William spotted a design and exclaimed "I think this would be a very good emblem for the Chevrolet" Unfortunately, at the time, she didn't exactly clarify what the motif was, or how it was used.

That nugget of information inspired Ken Kaufmann, historian and editor of The Chevrolet Review, enough to go searching for its validity. What he found out was fascinating. In a November 12, 1911 edition of The Constitution newspaper from Georgia, USA, he came across an advert placed by the Southern Compressed Coal Company for its Coalettes product, a refined fuel for fires. The Coalettes logo was a slanted bowtie very similar to the shape that would soon become the icon of Chevrolet. Was this the same – or a similar – ad that William Durant and his wife would see the following year, a few states to the north? The date of the paper only adds further fuel to the fire, if you'll pardon the pun, for the Chevrolet Motor Company was incorporated just nine days previously.

Within a few years though, the bowtie would begin to emerge as the definitive Chevrolet logo; an October 2, 1913 edition of The Washington Post seems, so far, to be the earliest known example of the symbol being used to advertise the brand. 'Look for this nameplate' it proclaims above the emblem. And customers all over the world have been ever since.

However, the legends don't end there. Yet another explanation attributes the design to a stylised version of the cross of the Swiss flag, Louis Chevrolet having been born in the country, at La Chaux-de-Fonds, Canton of Neuchâtel, to French parents, on Christmas Day 1878.

Whatever the truth – which will probably never be fully-known now – one thing is certain; that the Chevrolet gold bowtie stands just as much today for quality, reliability and affordability as it always has done over the past 98 years.

About Chevrolet

Chevrolet is General Motors' largest global brand with annual sales of about 4 million vehicles in more than 130 countries. It is the fourth biggest global car brand in terms of sales and also one of the fastest growing brands in the world. Chevrolet cars combine passion, bold design and practicality. They provide outstanding value for money. After re-launching the brand in Europe in 2005, Chevrolet more than doubled its sales to over 500,000 in 2008. In 2010, Chevrolet grew its market share in Europe to 2.5 percent, selling 477,194 cars. Chevrolet has a network of more than 2,700 dealers and service points in Europe. The Chevrolet line-up includes the Spark city car, the small Aveo, the compact four-door Cruze, the Captiva SUV and the legendary Corvette sports car. In 2011, Chevrolet is launching seven new cars: the all-new Orlando family van, the new Captiva SUV, the Corvette Grand Sport Coupé, the all-new five-door and four-door Aveo, the five-door Cruze, the Camaro coupé and convertible and the award-winning extended-range Volt electric car. Chevrolet's biggest markets in Europe are Russia, Italy, Germany, Spain, France and Turkey. Established in the U.S. by Swiss émigré Louis Chevrolet in 1911, the brand is celebrating its centenary in 2011. More information on Chevrolet can be found at http://www.chevroleteurope.com or http://media.chevroleteurope.com.