If you would have asked a young Matthew if he liked the yellow badge at the front of the red cars, he more than likely would have given a resounding ‘no’ with his arms folded and a scowl on his face. After all the yellow badge was the banner of the Formula 1 team young Matthew despised, a team constantly getting in the way of British heroes like the Williams and McLaren teams. But now it must be said I have softened and with maturity now look upon Ferrari with respect, admiration and a love of its prancing horse logo.
the prancing horse would adorn every one of his cars
The prancing horse, or ‘cavallino rampante’ to give it its proper Italian moniker, has a fascinating history all its own. The prancing horse first adorned the side of a fighter plane flown by first world war Italian flying ace Count Francesco Baracca. The horse formed the main part of the Baracca family coat of arms. Following his death Francesco’s squadron adopted the prancing horse, painting it on all their aircraft, changing its colour from red to black in mourning for their national hero. In 1923 the mother of Francesco, Countess Paolina, happened to meet a young race driver at the Savio track in Ravenna Italy. During this chance meeting the Countess asked the young racer to paint the beloved prancing horse on his race cars to bring him luck, that driver was Enzo Ferrari and from that moment the prancing horse would adorn every one of his cars. The horse sits on a canary yellow background, but this colour wasn’t chosen just to stand out in fact the colour represents the city of Modena Enzo Ferrari’s birthplace. Modena is also home to the Ferrari headquarters in the Modena suburb and to this day is a place of pilgrimage for all Ferrari fans. Crowning the logo are the Italian national colour of green, white and red; Enzo of course was a proud Italian and Ferrari is an Italian national treasure. For Ferrari’s race team the logo appears in shield form with the letters ‘S’ and ‘F’ these stand for Scuderia Ferrari or translated as Ferrari Stables. After all Ferrari only build and race thoroughbreds!
Show someone just the black horse and they will instantly recognise it
What I love about the Ferrari logo is its strength; the proud black horse in a powerful stance, it’s bright yellow background contrasting with the black and an overall simplicity in its design. Every element plays a part in telling the Ferrari story, which is exactly what a logo should do. The horse is a symbol of raw power, the yellow links it back to its birthplace and the national colours give it a proud nationalism. Over the years it has changed very little, is so easily recognised across the globe and associated with some of the world’s most beautiful cars. Show someone just the black horse and they will instantly recognise it as the Ferrari logo (unless you’re my partner who doesn’t care or know about cars and would say you’ve drawn the Lloyds logo wrong!)
As a designer would I ever put a yellow logo on top of a red background? Probably not, but that little splash of yellow at the front of a Ferrari somehow just works, and of course I’m not a flamboyant confident Italian! Back when I was younger the Ferrari logo represented the Formula 1enemy, but to me now it represents power, precision engineering, quality and beauty I guess I've softened a lot...Forza cavallino rapmante, forza Ferrari! 🏁🇮🇹🏎
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