The origin of the Mercedes logo in the form of a three-pointed star.
In fact, the origins of the Mercedes-Benz logo date back to 1909. At that time, Daimler-Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG) and Benz & Cie. which later merged to become Mercedes-Benz, were still two independent business entities.
At the time, DMG was run by Paul and Adolf Daimler, sons of founder Gottlieb Daimler. The brothers decided that the company needed a new logo and settled on the symbol used by their father, who died in 1900.
Gottlieb Daimler used the three stars to mark the family home on postcards when he was the technical director of the German gas engine plant. Since the company's engines were used for land, sea, and air applications, the three stars were a fitting symbol for Daimler.
The brothers officially registered the symbol with the German Imperial Patent Office on June 24, 1909, and the three stars were granted a trademark on February 9, 1911.
Meanwhile, Benz & Cie. was working on a new logo featuring the word "Benz" surrounded by a laurel wreath signifying racing success. The symbol was filed with the German government on August 6, 1909, and protected as a trademark on October 10, 1910.
A few years later, in 1925, DMG and Benz & Cie. agreed to merge their automobile businesses along with their respective logos, giving birth to Daimler-Benz AG and the star studded in a circle that first appeared on road cars in 1926 and is still used by Mercedes-Benz today.
The Mercedes-Benz logo has changed little over the past nine decades, but its placement has. The three-pointed star was initially fixed to the top of the car's radiator, forming a prominent hood ornament. But in the 1930s, Mercedes-Benz decided to fit a flat version of the logo on its racing cars to improve aerodynamics, and in 1952 the 300SL sports car became the first road-going car to feature the star in the center rather than above the radiator. And it was with this first SL that sporty Mercedes-AMG products adopted the grille-mounted logo rather than the hood-mounted symbol used on most Mercedes-Benz road cars.
