You’ve seen the iconic Mercedes-Benz three-pointed star all over the place–on cars, on dealer signage and even on merchandise. That small and simple image has become synonymous with quality and luxury. But do you know how the automaker came to choose that figure as its marketing symbol?
The story dates all the way back to the early 1880s when Benz and Daimler first got together.
Throughout the waning years of the 19th century, the two worked on perfecting their vehicles and marketing them for the public. They also worked on creating a name for the company that people eventually recognized as Mercedes. But they were still lacking a catchy trademark symbol.
Daimler’s two sons, Paul and Adolf , were senior executives of the company by the time their father passed away. They remembered he once used a star as the symbol for his company. On a postcard of his own house, he drew a star above the home and told his wife that the star would one day hang over his factory as a sign of prosperity.
In June of 1909, the DMG board accepted the proposal to use this star as the symbol for the company. At the time, the company trademarked a three-pointed and a four-pointed star. After 1910, the automaker only used the three-pointed star mounted on top of the radiator at the front of the vehicle.
Come back tomorrow for more about the history of the iconic star that you see at every Mercedes-Benz dealer in the world.
