It’s something brought up every so often: why does Cadillac incorporate so many colors in their badging? To stray away from the historical facts, we’ll first say it’s refreshing to see some color in a badge in a world full of silver-chrome logos plastered anywhere they fit on an automobile.
But, there is history behind the badge.
Gear Patrol has put together an entire list encompassing the history for many of the most popular brand badges today, and delved into Cadillac’s past to shed some light on the design.
Foremost, the colors in the badge come from Le Sieur Antoine De La Mothe Cadillac, the founding father of Detroit in 1701. The emblem therefore reflects the colors found in the original Cadillac coat of arms. You may remember the iconic ducks found on Cadillac emblems of yore, which were ditched many years ago as the badge evolved and modernized. Those bird creatures were actually merlettes, a symbol of knightly participation in the Crusades. The contrasting splash of red is derived from the Cadillac coat to symbol boldness and bravery during the Crusades as well.
Most recently, the Cadillac badge lost its laurel leaves, which used to surround the crest, in an effort to further modernize the logo as the brand pushes forward with an ambitious turnaround plan.
Comments
Hope the middle east doesn’t find out.. got a feeling alot of folks out there don’t wanna ride around in a crusades symbol
This is info that will harm Middle Eastern sales.
At this point the badge is simply a meaningless but pretty combo of color. To suggest that this brand or badge celebrates anyone or anything is silly.
pretty much every Cadillac I’ve ever ridden in is from before 2014 model year except the ELR Coupe we rented to go to DC in 2016 my now deceased maternal grandmother had a 79 Coupe Deville for example which I believe still had the ducks in the crest but moderization is needed every so often