Oldsmobile Automotive Heraldry

The Oldsmobile web site describes the Winged Spur emblem as including “many elements symbolizing Oldsmobile's increasing prominence in the automobile industry. The winged spur at its center represented harnessing horsepower; the acorns acknowledged Oldsmobile as a seed that helped grow the automobile industry. Also included [are] the Lamp of Knowledge, a micrometer and triangle signifying research, exactness and precision.”

[Nicholson] gives a different explanation for these symbols. The winged spur stands for fleetness, the three acorns for pioneering quantity production, the oak leaves for strength and sturdiness, the lamp for knowledge, and the micrometer and set-square for precision. The Oldsmobile web site claims this was only used from 1929 to 1948. However, this has been used since then, as this hood ornament from a sedan from about 1990 on the left and the 1958 grille badge on the right show.

Oldsmobile has used a wide variety of other heraldic like images in the last few years, such as this one, which consists of a flamboyant escutcheon overlaid by a scroll with the name Oldsmobile. This is an adaptation of the logo used on the curve dash Oldsmobile that first made the company famous at the beginning of the twentieth century. According to [Wendel], this trademark was first used in December 1900.

Finally, here is one other symbol Oldsmobile has used that could be construed to be heraldic. In an attempt to convince consumers that they product should be associated with the best qualities of products from other western countries, they have included the flags of most of the countries of Western Europe and North America. (Should we extrapolate anything about their not including the flags of Japan or any of the other rising automobile producing countries of East Asia?) Flags and their elements are occasionally used in logos for other manufactures (the Union Jack on the roof of Minis being one of the most dramatic) but this is a most conspicuous case of using flags from countries other than where the vehicle is built.

Return to the Automotive Heraldry Page

Last Update: July 11, 2000