The 'Mercedes' name was registered right back in
1902, but at that time there was no logo or trademark
to accompany it. The idea for the 'Star' logo came
when Paul and Adolf Daimler, the two sons of the
company's founder (and then in charge of the business),
remembered that their father had once used a star
symbol in his family correspondence.
Their father, Gottlieb Daimler, had been technical
director of the Deutz gas engine factory from 1872
until 1881. At the beginning of his employment there,
he had marked a star above his own house on a picture
postcard of Cologne and Deutz, and had written to
his wife that this star would one day shine over
his own factory to symbolize prosperity.
In June 1909 the company registered both three-pointed
and four-pointed stars as trademarks. Although both
designs were legally protected, only the three-pointed
star was ever used. From 1910 onwards it began to
appear at the front of the cars as a design feature
on the radiator.
The three points of the star were supposed to represent
Daimler's ambition of universal motorization: "on
land, on water and in the air".
Over the years the logo evolved, to include the
'Benz' laurel wreath, and then, in 1923, the three-pointed
star enclosed in a circle was registered as a trademark.
Since then it has changed little, and is now a
powerful symbol and integral part of the Mercedes-Benz
brand.
