There history and the identity of Lance they are told through the evolution of his logo, always characterized by two fundamental elements: the steering wheel and the spear. The first logo in its history was presented in 1907 and it is very simple and essential. The name “Lancia” it is written in white capital letters on a dark, rectangular background.
There “L”, noticeably larger and slightly staggered, is a stylistic element that will distinguish the logo for decades. The font is clear and edges appear at the corners of the letters pointed.
In the same year, a “softer” version of the logo was also launched, which coexists with the first and in which the Lancia writing is proposed in italics and in gold color.
History of Lancia logos since 1911
On the wave of growing success, Vincenzo Lancia he wants his creations to have a strong logo that everyone can recognize at first glance and that encompasses the values and innovative strength of his cars.
So, in 1911entrusts the task to a dear friend of his, the Count Carlo Biscaretti of Ruffiaillustrator, advertiser and great car enthusiast, as well as creator of the National Automobile Museum of Turin.
Vincenzo Lancia thus chooses the one that best represents the philosophy of the brand, through some of its distinctive signs: the four-spoke steering wheel, the hand throttle control, the rectangular flag and the spear-shaped pole. The new brand will be adopted starting from 1922.
Lancia logo in 1929
In the 1929 the Lancia logo changes shape again and one appears around the rim of the steering wheel triangular shaped shielda stylistic element destined to remain to this day.
The logo, designed by Biscaretti di Ruffia, is then stylized in some details, with the colors now defined: the blue is used for the shield, the flag and the spear, the white distinguishes the background and the steering wheel, while thegold it embellishes the profiles and above all the writing.
Lancia logo in 1957
In the 1957with the introduction of Flaminia, a new, essential logo debuts. This is a radical makeover, with one leaner stylewhere the shield and steering wheel are replaced by simple stylized geometric shapes and the previous extensive use of color is replaced by one two-tone blue-silver.
This version, however, retains two characterizing details: the spear that holds the flag and the flag itself with the writing Lancia, again in capital letters, as well as the inevitable initial “L”.
Lancia logo in 1969 and 1981
In the 1969with the acquisition of Lancia by Fiat Group, the logo is the subject of another profound restyling. Indeed, he is coming revived and modernized the “original” rectangular-shaped logo of 1907. The first car to use the new symbol is the 1972 Beta.
In 1981, a further evolution was then created, once again creating a bridge with the past: the designer Massimo Vignelli proposes all the elements present in the previous logos, starting from the version presented in 1929 and updating it.
Shield, spear, steering wheel and flag they are stylized, while the choice of colors is limited to the alternation between blue and white. For the first time the letter “L” is resized and equated with the other letters.
Modern Lancia logo since 2007
In the 2007 a revolution is achieved from an aesthetic point of view, while maintaining some of the most characteristic elements of the Brand's DNA. First of all the blue coloreven if shifted towards a key darker and shinierand then the outline shield.
The steering wheel is completely revised, in the name of essentiality, the four spokes are transformed into two “points” above and below the Lancia writing, while the spear with the flag on which the logo appeared disappears.
New Lancia logo in 2022
The new Lancia logo, introduced in 2022, is inspired by the historic 1957 logo, introduced on the Lancia Flaminia, but modernizes all the distinctive elements of the brand, such as the steering wheel, flag, shield, spear and the writing. Also there written “Lancia” has been updated with a new original font. The process of creating the new logo involved studying the history of the seven previous versions, starting from the 1907 logo up to the most recent emblems, such as the 2007 one.
This new logo reflects a balance between tradition and modernitymaintaining recognizable elements of the brand's history but with a contemporary touch.
Names Lancia Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Lambda
If the evolution of the Lancia logo is fascinating, no less so is the history of the names of its cars which finds inspiration in the precious cultural heritage ofancient Rome and of theAncient Greece.
In the first decades of the last century all Lancias were identified with the brand name combined with the number of fiscal horses: 12 HP, 18/24 HP, 20/30 HP, 25/35 HP.
But in 1919 an intuition arrives that changes the course of history. Vincenzo Lancia wants to give his creations an even stronger identity; so, at the suggestion of his brother Giovanni who is a scholar of classical languages, he assigns the letters of the classical Greek alphabet to his cars, starting from Lancia Kappa from 1919.
The idea was revolutionary and pushed the company to rename all its cars produced up to that point, starting with the 12HP, which was renamed “Alpha”and then continue with the Beta (1909)the Gamma (1910)the Delta (1911) up to Lambda which was presented in 1922, first at the Paris Motor Show and then at the London Motor Show.
In the same period, the prefixes “di” and “tri” began to be adopted to identify the versions derived from the model which represented evolutions or simple setups created ad hoc. The last Lancia car to adopt Greek letters was precisely that “Dilambda”the prototype of which was presented at the 1929 New York Motor Show.
Names Lancia Artena, Astura, Agusta, Aprilia, Ardea
In the same years there was another change in the names of the cars. In fact, Vincenzo Lancia decides to abandon the Greek alphabet and pay homage to Italy, identifying his cars with the names of some historical locations of ancient Rome. We start with theArtena and theAsturaand then continue with theAugustaL'Aprilia and theArdea.
Then, in 1931in order to market his cars in France, Vincenzo Lancia founded “Lancia Automobiles”, also giving a French name to his cars: the “Belna” and the “Ardennes”, namely the Augusta and the Aprilia, which will be previewed at the Paris Motor Show.
The success was immediate, so much so that at the Paris Motor Show in 1936 it was said that Henry Ford waited until the exhibition closed to see the Aprilia up close, against the advice of the custodians who blocked him, so much so that he stated: “The Aprilia is the only car at the Show that's worth making a fool of yourself for.”
Lancia names Aurelia, Appia, Flaminia and Fulvia
After the Second World War, with the company's move to Gianni Lancia, the son of the founder, the Lancias change their name again. We continue along the Roman tradition, but move on to consular routes: the Aurelia and the Appiathen followed by Flaminia, Flavia and Fulvia.
In that period, the Flaminia became the car of the President of the Republic: it was a special version made in 1961 in four examples, on the occasion of the visit to Italy of the Queen Elizabeth II.
And, following a tradition of the Quirinale Stables, each example is called with the name of a thoroughbred horse: Belfiore, Belmonte, Belvedere and Belsito.
Names Lancia Beta, Gamma, Delta, Prisma, Thema, Thesis and Phedra
In the autumn of 1969 the Fiat Group purchased Lancia and thus a new era began for the brand and for the occasion it was decided to return to the original logo and the Greek letters for the names of the cars.
The first car to mark the change is the 1972 Betafollowed in 1976 by Range and from Delta in 1979.
The tradition of classical names then continued with the Prism (1982), the flagship Thema (1984) and so on up to the recent ones Thesis And Phedra in 2002 and on Third generation Delta in 2008. And so we arrive at the New Ypsilon (2020).
Photo history of the Lancia logos and names
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→ New Lancia Ypsilon 2024
→ All the news, car tests on LANCIA
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