Ferrari: Encyclopedia II - Ferrari - The Cavallino Rampante

Ferrari - The Cavallino Rampante

The famous symbol of the Ferrari race team is a black prancing horse on yellow shield-shaped background, usually with the letters S F for Scuderia Ferrari, and with three stripes of the Italian national colors green-white-red on top. The road cars have a rectangular badge on the front hood (see picture above).

Curiously, a similar black horse on a yellow shield is the Coat of Arms of the German city of Stuttgart. This name is derived from Stutengarten, an ancient form of the modern German word Gestüt, which translates into English as stud farm and into Italian as scuderia. Stuttgart, called Stoccarda by the Italians, is the home of Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari's rival Porsche, which also uses the Stuttgart sign in its corporate logo, centered in the emblem of the state of Württemberg just like the city is placed within the state. Enzo Ferrari met these competitors many times since the 1920s while competing for Alfa.

On June 17, 1923, Enzo Ferrari won a race at the Savio track in Ravenna where he met the Countess Paolina, mother of Count Francesco Baracca, a legendary asso (ace) of the Italian air force and national hero during World War I, who used to paint a horse on the side of his planes. The Countess asked Enzo to use this horse on his cars, suggesting that it would grant him good luck. Ferrari left the horse black as it had been on Baracca's plane; however, he added a canary yellow background as this is the color of the city of Modena, his birthplace. It has been supposed the choice of a horse was perhaps partly because his noble family was known for having many horses on their estates at Lugo di Romagna. Another theory suggests Baracca copied the rampant horse design from a shot-down German pilot who had the emblem of the city of Stuttgart on his plane. This is supported by the evidence Barraca's horse looks more similar to the one of Stuttgart (not changed since 1938) than the current Ferrari design, especially as the legs of the horses are concerned.

The first race at which Alfa Romeo would let Ferrari use the horse on the Alfas entered by his Scuderia Ferrari was eleven years later at Spa 24 Hours in 1932, which the Ferrari-led Alfa team won. Ever since, the cavallino was shown on the Alfas that were competing against the Silver Arrows of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union, among others.

The prancing horse has not always been uniquely identified with the Ferrari brand: Fabio Taglioni used it on his Ducati motorbikes. Taglioni's father was, in fact, a companion of Baracca's and fought with him in the 91st Air Squad. But, as Ferrari's fame grew, Ducati abandoned the horse; this may have been the result of a private agreement between the two brands.

The prancing horse is now a trademark of Ferrari. Yet, other companies use similar logos. One example is quite prominent next to roads in Austria and Eastern European countries, as an Austrian company, named "avanti" (http://www.avanti.at) since 1972, operates over 100 filling stations marked with a prancing horse logo which is nearly identical to Ferrari's.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Cavallino Rampante", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki