The unusual reason why the Ferrari logo came to be a prancing horse

Almost everyone from all age groups can recognize the Ferrari logo from far away just because it’s so iconic — but have you ever wondered where the prancing horse or the bright yellow background came from?

Before letting you in on the story, here’s an interesting fact — the logo came several years before the Ferrari brand even existed.

It all has to do with Enzo Ferrari and his history, and it’s certainly an interesting tale, to say the least.

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The Ferrari logo came before the brand

Logos of popular supercar brands like Bugatti and Audi certainly stand out, but you would be surprised to hear how they were chosen.

For the prancing horse brand, though, we need to know some details about the man himself, Enzo Ferrari.

Before he started a company that would one day have a shining place in automotive history, Enzo was a racer.

He took part in countless races and obviously won many, too.

When he won his first Savio Circuit race in 1923, he met the parents of a celebrated First World War pilot—Francesco Baracca—who had a prancing horse emblem painted on his plane’s fuselage.

In a conversation that further took place with his parents, the pilot’s mother, Countess Paolina, suggested Ferrari put the emblem on his cars for ‘good luck.’

Everybody likes a bit of luck on their side, so Enzo took the black horse and put it in front of a yellow background.

Yellow was also the color of the city of Modena — how artistic.

Becoming one of the most iconic logos ever

This new logo also appeared on the first Alfa Romeo cars that the Scuderia racing team was using in 1932.

What’s more — the prancing horse actually ended up bringing good luck to these cars, because the first two cars to feature it won first and second places in the Spa 24 Hours endurance race.

These Alfa Romeo cars also had some part to play in why almost all Ferraris have the color red today.

However, Alfa Romeo pulled out of professional racing in 1933, leaving Scuderia Ferrari as the primary team with the logo.

It attracted a lot of attention over the years and became popular before the brand that we know today even existed.

Finally, Enzo unveiled the Ferrari brand in 1947 and decided to use the same prancing horse emblem with a yellow background as the official Ferrari logo.

The automaker’s first model was the 125 S, and it came with an emblem that every enthusiast already knew about.

After that – as they say – the rest is history.

Talk about putting the horse before the car[t].