People take a lot of pride in the car they drive. When you pay tens of thousands of dollars for a vehicle, you kind of have to. While some people end up getting a car that gets them place to place, others find a brand they fall in love with.

Like many other car lovers out there, I’ve fallen in love with BMW cars over the course of my life. After graduating from my first car that was basically a metal can on wheels, I was determined to always drive something that had style and speed.

Enter BMW. It’s a brand with some of the classiest cars and one of the most recognizable logos in the world.

Some car logos are obvious, like an H for Honda, but BMW’s logo has a bit of history behind it. It’s actually even created a bit of lore for the company.

Read on to discover what I’ve learned about the legend of the BMW logo and what its origin story really is.

Brief History of BMW

A brand only gets surrounded by mystery if they’ve been around for a long time. This is very true of BMW. The company was originally founded in 1916 in Bavaria, Germany. Its founders wanted to join in on the rising automobile and plane industries, so they focused on creating engines. They ended up selling engines to many aircraft manufacturers around the world, giving life to the company.

Most people would assume that because the company was succeeding, they’d have a logo to match their name. What’s strange to modern minds is that the company still didn’t have a logo at this point. It wasn’t on their list of priorities. They were focused on making engines and placing small ads here and there that focused on the brand name, which was Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH.

After the company went public in 1918, they shortened their brand to BMW. Around this same time, people around the world were also trying to figure out how to soar around the world in the first versions of the modern airplane. This is was first led to the company being tied to the famous propeller.

Airplanes and Power

Before the first trans-Atlantic and around-the-world flights, every country wanted to be the first to set records in the air. It was like the space race before the space race had even been considered. Flying airplanes made at home that cemented their place in world history meant that the winning country had more power and respect.

BMW recognized the importance of the aircraft industry, which is why their first few years were spent in engine construction operations. They sold engines for airplanes, cars and boats. When they weren’t building their engine empire, the BMW founders designed new engines that could power planes over even further distances.

The Logo’s Beginnings

In 1928, BMW became a car manufacturer after purchasing a local manufacturing company. They still made engines, but they connected on a consumer’s level by producing cars. This drew their attention back to their logo since they knew people needed a logo picture when they heard the brand name. It’s a crucial step to creating brand loyalty.

Prior to 1917, the company came up with a general logo featuring the Rapp Motorenwerke company’s symbol. Rapp was part of the company’s identity in their original merger shortly after beginning engine production before the rebranding happened. BMW adopted this Rapp logo, which definitely looked familiar to me.

It has a man’s profile image in the middle of a circle, with the company name split above and below him. The black line surrounding his image looks very similar to the BMW logo everyone now knows.

A Myth is Born

Remember how BMW got its start in engines? That’s what they were still known for by the time the first World War was over. While they made a profit off of selling cars in Germany, their engines were internationally known. Which is why they decided to create advertisements for them, seeing as how Germany’s military and air force were extremely limited after the war.

The first BMW engine advertisement premiered in 1929, featuring a plane taking off. That plane used a BMW engine, so the company’s name appeared just above the spinning propeller as it took off. It was the image seen around the world.

One point that this ad tried to make was to encourage consumers in the midst of a global economic depression. Airplanes were inspiring, literally lifting people up when they watched them fly overhead.

People ended up loving the airplane ad so much that they connected the plane to the company, instead of the actual logo. The logo wasn’t emphasized in their marketing as much as the brand name.

What also added fuel to the fire was an article by Wilhelm Farrenkopf in the BMW journal in 1942. He used plane imagery to win over reads to BMW engines, which only reinforced the idea that the propeller of a plane was the logo for BMW.

The Truth Behind the Legend

After the second World War, BMW switched to manufacturing cars and motorcycles. They left the plane engine business behind, but the myth about their logo stayed.

After July of 1917, BMW had readjusted their logo. They had been using the man’s profile image in their Rapp logo, but BMW founder Franz Josef Popp switched a few details. Instead of Rapp, BMW was displayed across the top of the circle. The colors in the middle came from the Bavarian flag, where the company was founded.

Looking at the current logo, I can totally see where a plane propeller would fit into the middle of the design. It really speaks to the power of a good advertisement.

I don’t see this myth going away anytime soon, but I’m glad it was called to my attention so that I could research it. As an avid BMW fan, I had no idea that plane engines were such big part of their history.

It completely explains the fascination people have with the propeller myth that still trails behind one of the most powerful car brands to date.