Daimler AG emblem - a three point star – it is one of the most unmistakable and popular brands in the world, it is recognized even without seeing the company’s name next to it. But how did this story begin?
Daimler AG emblem - a three point star – it is one of the most unmistakable and popular brands in the world, it is recognized even without seeing the company’s name next to it. But how did this story begin?
Each legend has its prelude, and if we speak about Daimler AG three point star, we have to look back retrospectively for a moment at the foundation of the company.
Its corner rock was laid in the 80’s of the 19th century. Working independently Karl Benz, the created the first internal combustion engine, and another industrial designer and manufacturer Gottlieb Daimler together with the engineer Wilhelm Mayback created their first vehicle.
The company Benz & Cie. was already founded in 1883, but the company Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft announced itself in 1890.
Their roads crossed due to the global cataclysm: after the First World War, Germany’s economy was ruined, and it was hard to find a market for the expensive cars. They had to cooperate to survive. In 1924, a syndicate was created, and in 1926, the two oldest car manufacturers became one – Daimler-Benz AG.
Over time the company grew becoming an international corporation, within which passenger vehicle department Mercedes-Benz is just one of many other companies, but the name did not change, not until 1998 when they joined forces with the American company Chrysler, and a new company was created – DaimlerChrysler AG. This union didn’t last, the companies parted in 2007, but the so far known Daimler-Benz became simply Daimler AG.
Austrian girl with a Spanish name
Before we get to the star, a few words should be said about how “Mercedes” came about, the name that is inseparable from the three point star. We have to thank an Austrian business man Emil Jellinek for finding a name for this passenger vehicle brand. He had a daughter Mercedes (Mercédès), who was born in 1889. Translated from Spanish it stands for “gracefulness”.
Jellinek foresaw a great future for motor vehicles. In 1897, he visited Daimler and having good connection with the wealthy of the time, he soon started to advertise and sell cars. In 1899, he signed up Daimler for a car race and because of his daughter he participated in the race under a pseudonym Monsieur Mercedes. He earned an absolute popularity and victory.
In 1900, Jellinek and Daimler went a step further agreeing that they will use the brand name Mercédès for their vehicle sales, in addition, they planned to create a new engine with the name Daimler-Mercedes.
The first vehicle, a race car with the new 35 hp engine was delivered to Jellinek at the end of the year 1900, and it was engineered by Wilhelm Mayback. The car had a low centre of gravity, pressed steel frame, a light high performance engine, cell radiator and a few more innovations, and that is the reason why it is considered to be the first modern car. In 1902, Mercédès became the official brand name.
Magnificence in the sky, on the ground and on the waters
Now, Daimler (a part of the future Daimler-Benz) had a successful brand name, but it still lacked an emblem. According to the legend, Paul and Adolf Daimler, the sons of the founder of the company and the company’s managers at the time, had remembered that their father, who had passed away in 1900, shortly before his 66th birthday once had used a star as a symbol.
From 1872-1881, Gottlieb Daimler was a technical director at Deutz gas engine factory. At the start of his working days, he sent a postcard to his wife from Cologne, and he drew a star above the place where he used to live at that time, and wrote to his wife: “One day this star will be shining bright over the work of my life”.
The board of Dailmer accepted the proposal without any hesitation and in 1909 they registered three and four point star as their trade mark. Since 1910, only the three point star was used. It had to symbolize the Daimler’s universal motorization ambitions – “on the ground, water and in the sky”. As the time went on, the emblem experienced minor adjustments, in 1916, the star was put inside a circle and there were four small stars and the name Mercedes integrated in it as well. In 1921, Daimler came up with new designs with a three dimensional star inside a circle, including a version that was meant to be put on the radiator grille. It became their official and registered trademark in 1923.
No matter what changes and adjustments the trademark has undergone over the years, the very core – a three point star – has remained. In 2019, the world famous emblem will celebrate its 110 anniversary.
