Lotus Cars logo history and symbol meaning
Lotus is a renowned sports car company hailing from Great Britain. The company is best-known for its selection of performance cars. Today, we’re going to discover the history of this famous sports car brand, and explore the Lotus cars logo.
The Lotus logo is a unique brand emblem, designed to set Lotus apart from the other major automobile organisations in the industry.
Under the Lotus symbol, Lotus cars have participated in a range of Formula One championships – the Lotus brand has even won the championship 7 times.
Whether you’re a fan of Lotus and its beautiful, agile cars, or you just love learning about memorable logos, this guide to the Lotus cars logo is here to educate and inform.
Lotus history: The Lotus logo today
The Lotus Car Company logo today is a brightly-coloured and instantly recognisable image in the motoring world. Far removed from many of the modern car company logos we know, often crafted in metallic shades, the Lotus logo represents the bold confidence of the brand.
The Lotus logo, first established in 1948, has evolved over the years to include a unique color palette, and an iconic monogram. Notably, the monogram of the Lotus cars logo, and the shapes within the symbol are similar today to the very first logo.
Today, however, the Lotus logo uses a bright circular background in yellow, with a dark green triangle laid on top. The triangle has its edges slightly curved, apparently to represent the shape of a lotus flower, according to the company.
The color of the Lotus monogram and the word mark, written in a simple sans-serif font, are the same as the circular background. The design makes it look as though the word and monogram have almost been “cut out” of the Lotus logo triangle.
Lotus: Brand overview
| Founded: | 1948 |
| Founder: | Colin Chapman |
| Headquarters: | Hethel, Norfolk, England |
| Website: | www.lotuscars.com |
| Logo downloads: |
Lotus, or Lotus Cars Limited, as it’s sometimes known, is a UK automotive company located in Norfolk. Created and owned for many years by Colin Chapman, the Lotus cars brand was involved in significant amounts of Formula One racing, with Team Lotus.
After Chapman’s death, the Lotus brand was purchased by the General Motors Company. Today, Lotus cars belongs to the Chinese multinational company, Geely.
Lotus was originally formed as Lotus Engineering Ltd, by the engineers Colin Dare and Colin Chapman. Today, the “Group Lotus PLC” brand is divided into Lotus Engineering and Lotus Cars.
Lotus logo evolution: The Lotus Car symbol
The history of Lotus cars dates back to 1948, which is also where the Lotus car logo begins. You may notice the original Lotus car symbol features a lot of the same elements as the Lotus badge today.
The logo featured a circular black badge with a thin silver outline. At the centre of the black circle was a triangular shape with curved edges. The monogram for the brand and the marque name was imprinted in the center of the triangle.
According to the Lotus Car Company, the logo was intended to represent an abstract lotus flower.
The Lotus Car brand monogram at the top of the triangle features the letters “ACB” entwined inside of a larger C. Apparently, this selection of letter represents the name of the brand’s founder, Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman.
Along the arched side of the badge is the “Lotus” inscription, written in all capitals, with a sans-serif typeface.
1984
During 1984, Lotus made an unusual update to the Lotus car emblem. At this point in Lotus car history, the circular shape was removed, and only the triangular “lotus flower” shape remained. The shape was widened a little to make it look closer to an oval, and the colour palette evolved.
Lotus now embraced a dark green and golden colour selection. On the first version of this design, the company only included the name of the brand written in all capitals. Two years later, in 1986, the ACBC monogram was re-introduced to the Lotus emblem.
The Lotus emblem from 1986 only had a single extra element compared to its previous version, but the re-introduction of the “ACBC” monogram was important for the brand.
In these two versions of the logo, you’ll notice the Lotus cars logo font was also updated, to a serif typeface, full of capital letters overlapping each other.
1989
In 1989, Lotus updated its car logo once again, reverting to the original circular badge shape, with the curved triangle in the centre. The dark green remained an important component of the Lotus Car colors, but this time the word Lotus and the monogram were in silver.
The serif typeface was spread out a little further, allowing for easier readability, and around each shape in the logo, Lotus added a silver outline. The circular badge behind the curved triangle was presented in a golden yellow shade.
A monochrome version of this logo was also introduced.
2010
The most recent version of the logo updated slightly again in 2010, this time becoming more modern and refined. The redesign of the logo included a slightly brighter color of yellow, and a lot more texture in the silver elements, to represent metallic chrome.
The primary composition of the 2010 Lotus Cars logo looks very similar to the one that came before it. However, this time, the Lotus emblem seems a lot more modern – similar to the kind of badge we would expect to see on the back of a car.
2019
In 2019, the Lotus logo was updated again, this time with an interesting set of changes. Perhaps following a similar strategy to many technology companies at the time, the Lotus Car Company chose to simplify its logo. The design of the badge became flattened and minimalist.
The silver outlines around the various shapes in the “Lotus” badge were changed, and the texture elements were removed completely.
The majority of the design of the Lotus logo remained the same, though the shade of yellow was much brighter, and now became the shade for the monogram and wordmark, which switched to a sans-serif font.
Lotus Cars symbol: Lotus symbol meaning
The Lotus logo, according to the Lotus Car brand, isn’t just a random assortment of shapes (as you might think), it’s actually intended to be the simplified shape of the Lotus flower.
The color of dark green simultaneously represents wealth and the environment, perhaps pulling attention back to the beauty of nature, and the premium status of Lotus vehicles.
The bright yellow in the Lotus logo highlights Lotus cars as innovative, happy, and exciting. It’s an interesting color choice, but one many people have come to associate with the racing world, thanks in part to Lotus Cars’ branding efforts.
The monogram in the Lotus logo, as mentioned above, stands for the founder, Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman.
Lotus car logo color: Lotus cars colors
The Lotus logo colors have changed a few times over the years, evolving from a minimalist black and white logo, to one with the iconic deep green we know today. The bright yellow now in the Lotus logo builds on the previous golden shades used to represent wealth and sophistication by the brand.
The color palette today does a great job of attracting attention and generating excitement for the company.
The colors are:
British racing green:
RGB: (0, 66, 37)
Hex: #004225
Canary yellow:
RGB: (255, 239, 0)
Hex: #FFEF00
Lotus cars logo font: What font is the Lotus logo?
The Lotus logo is a minimalist sans-serif typeface. This is a simple and straightforward font made specifically for the Lotus Car brand. The typography has changed a couple of times over the history of the Lotus Company, often switching between serif and sans-serif options.
The type of font used for the Lotus Cars logo font is usually the same as the type of font used in the monogram of the logo.
The Lotus logo today
The Lotus logo today is an icon of premium race and sports car performance. This brightly-coloured logo may be a little strange compared to most vehicle logos available right now, but it’s done a great job of making the Lotus Company stand out.
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As Fabrik’s creative director, Stephen oversees complex branding programmes. He advises our clients on their tone of voice, creates logos and visual identities and crafts names for companies, products and services. Writing for Brand Fabrik Stephen reflects his love for logo design and visual identity.
