The
"Mercedes" name was registered right back in 1902, but at that
time there was no logo or trademark to accompany it. The idea
for the 'Star' logo came when Paul and Adolf Daimler, the two
sons of the company's founder (and then in charge of the business)
remembered that their father had once used a star symbol in
his family correspondence.
Their father, Gottlieb
Daimler, had been technical director of the Deutz gas engine
factory from 1872 until 1881. At the beginning of his employment
there, he had marked a star above his own house on a picture
postcard of Cologne and Deutz, and had written to his wife that
this star would one day shine over his own factory to symbolize
prosperity.
In June 1909 the
company registered both three-pointed and four-pointed stars
as trademarks. Although both designs were legally protected,
only the three-pointed star was ever used. From 1910 onwards
it began to appear at the front of the cars as a design feature
on the radiator.
The three-points
of the star were supposed to represent Daimler's ambition of
universal motorization: "on land, on water and in the air".
Over the years the
logo evolved, to include the 'Benz' laurel wreath, and then,
in 1923, the three-pointed star enclosed in a circle was registered
as a trademark.
Since then it has
changed little, and is now a powerful symbol and integral part
of the Mercedes-Benz brand.
Mercedes Benz Model
(107) R107 - W107
