The new Lancia logo, created by RobilantAssociati, an advertising agency that specialises in brand advisory and strategic design, and by the Lancia Styling Centre, has been unveiled in Geneva this week.

It is a symbol of ‘change in continuity’, a sign of the past reinterpreted in a modern key to convey the idea of a brand projected towards the challenges of the future but also proud of its historical identity. This makes the new Lancia logo a visual synthesis of its philosophy of Tradition and Innovation. The brand can boast a vast heritage, which is a constant source of inspiration in its striving for innovative technical solutions.

The new logo is essential and striking, and confirms its strong links with Lancia tradition through two elements: the colour blue, which has been present since 1911, and the shield, which was added in 1929, but has been brought up to date by the volumetric use of 3D. The most important innovation regards the steering wheel, which becomes a graphical sign, and the four spokes, which are now expressed in two points and play a functional role: focusing the eye on the Lancia logo, which has been slightly touched up to make it more legible, but still maintains its graphical links with the 1911 logo.

The new Lancia logo embodies the mission of an Italian company that for a century has been building cars with fascinating styling and innovative engineering, true icons of our time that continue to amaze us for their design, elegance and character. All this belongs to Lancia’s human and technological heritage: this is where the uniqueness of one of the most amazing adventures of the 20th century lies, a story that began in Turin in the Autumn of 1906, one of men, engines, roads and technology. But also of the symbols that have appeared on the radiator grilles of Lancia cars in the last one hundred years. A description of them follows, with a reference to the year when each one was used for the first time.

1907 – 1910

In 1907 a rectangular plate appeared on Lancia cars, which is usually considered the first trademark. In fact it was simply an identification plate, made of bronze, with the company name ‘Lancia e C’, and the chassis number underneath. We should point out that the typeface was already very clear: a gracious Bodoni narrow upper case (derived from the classic Roman) with a few changes, including the cross-stroke of the ‘L’ which was extended to underline the first ‘A’. In the same period, the Lancia signature in Art Nouveau characters appeared on the water radiator of some versions of the Alpha, Dialpha and Beta. But even in this case, it was not a proper logo. In fact we have to wait until 1910, when Vincenzo Lancia asked conte Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia to study the brand’s first proper logo.

1911 – 1932

Conte Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia proposed six watercolour sketches, from which Vincenzo Lancia chose one that reproduced a circular logo, created by the outline of a steering wheel with four spokes (the manual accelerator control is recognisable on one of them), drawn in gold on a white background, under a blue flag hanging from a lance with the company name in gold.
 

The first car to sport the logo in 1911 was the Gamma 20HP, followed by the Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Kappa, Dikappa, Trikappa and Lambda. The last series of the Lambda kept the circular logo alive until 1932, although from 1929, with the launch of the Dilambda, all the other models adopted a new logo, except for the first series of the Artena, Astura and Augusta.

1929 – 1957

The Dilambda was launched in 1929 and Vincenzo Lancia decided that this car should be the first to carry a new logo. The choice went to another of the original six proposals by Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia: a shield with a blue background, contained in a light double white surround that framed the previous circular emblem, on which only the graphical representation of the manual accelerator was modified. This logo was used until 1958 on the Dilambda, Artena, Astura, Augusta, Aprilia, Ardea, Aurelia and Appia (first and second series). We should point out that the first model to use this logo continuously was the Aprilia, from 1936, while the Aurelia and Appia were the last to do so, in 1958.

1956 - 1979

In 1956 a prototype Flaminia was presented at the Turin Motor Show; it was designed by Pinin Farina and sported the new, more stylised trademark at the middle of the front ventilation grille, since the traditional radiator grille had been eliminated. The shield and the steering wheel (without spokes) had become two simple chromed metal profiles, on which were applied the flag with an enamelled blue background and the chromed logo; the characters were also narrower and taller. This new logo was used until 1980 on the front of the Flaminia, Appia (third series), Flavia, Fulvia, Beta (first and second series), Gamma (first series) and Beta Montecarlo (first series and Scorpion). The only exceptions were the Stratos, which sported a perforated circle and the flag without the shield, the Sport and Zagato versions of the Fulvia and Flavia, which had the shield and a circle, both of which were full and enamelled, and finally the Lancia 2000, which returned to the circular logo designed by Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia with the changes introduced in the early 1930s.

1979 - 2006

In 1974, Lancia Chairman Umberto Agnelli asked Massimo Vignelli, an architect from Milan, to review Lancia’s coordinated image, creating a new logo to be used with different materials and uses. The result was a proper ‘technical drawing’ of the symbol, which established the guidelines for its application, the exact dimensions and the correct ratios between all the stylistic and graphical elements (outlines, backgrounds and colours).

The end result was a sketched logo with a blue shield and white circle, which revived four of the five elements of the 1936 trademark (wording, steering wheel, flagpole and flag, but without the accelerator control), making some significant changes. For example, the wording was made simpler, without any graphic frills, and the typeface was less narrow but taller, while the horizontal stroke of the ‘L’ was in line with the base of the logo. The pole was also shorter, without the ropes and the point became a well-defined triangle. The spokes returned on the steering wheel (now white and blue), but without the outline of the manual accelerator control on the right spoke; the graphical sign of these elements was much more marked. And finally, the shield, the circle and the drawings of the steering-wheel and flag had delicate silvery metallic outlines; the same material was used for the Lancia name.

The first car to adopt this new logo was the Delta in 1979, and it has since appeared on the front of all the cars launched in recent years, whether for the road or for racing: from the Beta Montecarlo (second series) to the last Gamma and Beta, the Trevi, Delta, Prisma, Rally 037, LC1, Thema, Dedra and Z, right up to the current Lancia range. The shield has not undergone significant changes since then, except in its size and for the fact that the frame has become chromed.