TBT: How the Blue Oval Beat Out Other Logos to Represent Ford Motor Company

Sep 28, 2023
3 MIN READ
TBT: How the Blue Oval Beat Out Other Logos to Represent Ford Motor Company Click to Enlarge

Ford’s iconic Blue Oval logo is world-renowned today, but it took several decades before it became the go-to symbol for not only Ford products, but the entirety of Ford Motor Company. 

The Ford script, a key element of the famed Blue Oval we all know and love, dates back to the company’s inception. C.H. Wills, an engineer and draftsman with a background in typography, was an early Ford employee. He is credited with designing the original logo, which adorned Ford models spanning from the Model C in 1904 through the last of the Model Ts in 1927. The script followed an ornate 1903 emblem from the Model C, which included the company’s hometown of Detroit. A more stylized form of the script, known as “script with wings,” was used on all Ford cars in 1906, and the Ford script would be registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 1909. 

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    Early Ford vehicles like the Model T wore the Ford script in an era prior to the use of the Blue Oval.
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While the Ford script had appeared on early Ford models, the Ford name didn’t find its way inside the oval logo until 1907, four years after the company’s founding. But it would be 1928 before a Ford vehicle, the Model A, carried the script in oval form. It was set on a deep blue background on the car’s radiator. This was the status quo until 1938, when Ford reverted to the script. The oval did not return as an exterior logo on Ford vehicles until 1982. A couple years later, the then-all-new Ford Taurus introduced the concept of a “floating oval,” with the Blue Oval appearing suspended in the middle of a small air scoop at the front of the car.

It wasn’t until 1961 that the Ford Oval began to be used to identify the company in addition to its products. That would change briefly with the turn of the millennium, as the Ford Motor Company script was established as the company’s trust mark, though the Ford brand’s vehicle badges did not change.  The script was soon replaced in 2003 with a dimensional Blue Oval created in conjunction with the company’s centennial. 

The Blue Oval made its return to the facade of Ford’s World Headquarters building in 2003. Click to Enlarge

The Blue Oval made its return to the facade of Ford’s World Headquarters building in 2003.

The significance of the Blue Oval was again on full display later in the early 2000s. While facing financial constraints in 2006, Ford leveraged the Blue Oval, as well as the F-150 and Mustang trademarks, among other assets, as collateral to secure a loan package. A return to investment grade status for Ford’s stock a couple years later meant the Blue Oval would stay with its rightful owners.

“When we pledged the Ford Blue Oval as part of the loan package, we were not just pledging an asset. We pledged our heritage,” Executive Chair Bill Ford said in 2012. “The Ford Blue Oval is one of the most recognized symbols in the world, and it is a source of great pride and passion, both inside and outside our company. Getting the Ford Blue Oval back feels amazing, and it is one of the best days that I can remember.”

Stylistically, the oval was further refined in 2019, as a flat blue is now used inside the oval, with the previous version still used in some instances. 

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    A coat of arms adorned Ford vehicles from the 1950s to the late-’60s.
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Aside from the oval and the Ford script, Ford vehicles have also carried a red, white and blue coat of arms from the 1950s to the late-’60s. Created by Ford stylists, it was derived from an authentic coat of arms, which dated back to 18th-century England. Appearing on the front of the hood and on the center of the trunk lid, it was in place on every Ford brand passenger vehicle produced during that period. Through the 1970s, the Ford name appeared in block letters. By this point, Ford had introduced two models that featured their own model-specific logos: Thunderbird and Mustang. 

Another Ford symbol, though seemingly unrelated to the script and the oval, was the Universal Car logo. The winged triangle appeared in the Ford Times, as well as newspaper and magazine advertisements from 1909-12. Its pyramid base was meant to signify strength, permanence and stability, while the accompanying wings were meant to imply speed, grace and lightness.

 

Love Ford history? Access fordarchivesonline.com with your CDSID to search your favorite topics. Or visit fordheritagevault.com, where no CDSID is needed, to browse and download product history.

LOVE FORD HISTORY?

Access fordarchivesonline.com with your CDSID to search your favorite topics. Or visit fordheritagevault.com, where no CDSID is needed, to browse and download product history.