Vauxhall Logo

Vauxhall LogoVauxhall Logo PNG

“Behind the wheel of our electric vehicles, you will leave all road users behind,” the Vauxhall logo promises. The company’s products are the vehicles of the winners. From the sign comes the energy of excitement and vivid emotions.

Vauxhall: Brand overview

Founded:1857
Founder:Alexander Wilson
Headquarters:
Chalton, Bedfordshire, England
Website:vauxhall.co.uk
Vauxhall is the oldest UK company that manufactures and local sales of passenger cars and electric vehicles. The firm previously specialized in trucks, buses, and vans under the Bedford Vehicles brand. It is a sister brand of Opel and has been part of the Stellantis group since January 2021. Its headquarters and manufacturing facilities are located in Chalton (Bedfordshire). The founder of the enterprise is the industrialist Alexander Wilson, who opened it in 1857.

Meaning and History

Vauxhall Logo History

Before becoming a legendary luxury car manufacturer, the company has come a long way from a pump and ship engine plant. In 1863, it was bought by Andrew Betts Brown, who changed the direction of the business and its name (to Vauxhall Iron Works), but not the logo. First, the new owner started assembling bridge cranes and then – making cars. This happened in 1903.

Many years later (in 1925), the company was acquired by the American concern General Motors. In 1930, he created a subsidiary department of Bedford Vehicles, which focused on producing commercial vehicles – vans, buses, etc. But in the early 80s of the last century, all equipment of this brand was taken off the market everywhere. The only exception was Great Britain. Under this brand, the company even produced cars for rallying and motorsport. But in 2017, Vauxhall moved to Groupe PSA.

Its iconic retro models include the Cavalier, Chevette, Viva, and Victor series. Modern versions include Astra, Corsa, Insignia, Crossland X, Mokka, Grandland X. Vauxhall sells several high-performance cars under the GSi sub-brand. All of them bear a sign with a mythical creature – a red griffin. It was approved in the year the company was founded. In total, the emblem has gone through seven modifications.

1857 – 1983

Vauxhall Logo 1857-1983

For a very long period, the company has been using a griffin from the old coat of arms of Sir Falkes de Breaute. He was a military man and lived in the 13th century. His house was called Vauxhall, which later spread to part of the surrounding area. By the way, it was in that building that the manufacturer for the manufacture of ship motors and pumps, and then cars, was founded. This is how extraneous heraldry laid the foundation for the legendary automotive industry.

The mythological creature consisted of the head of an eagle and the body of a lion. It sat with its two front paws on a flagpole that resembled a spear. On it was a miniature flag with a single letter – “V.” Since the family was military, it could mean the name of the Vauxhall house and the symbol of victory (Victoria). The griffin’s head looked to the right. The gaze was formidable and intimidating, and the tip of the tail and wing were slightly raised.

1983 – 1989

Vauxhall Logo 1983-1989

The emblem received a red background square with white and gray edging. The upper part of the wing and spears were cut off, so the mark became geometrically even. All interior elements have been painted white. Under the mythical creature, the designers have placed the inscription “Vauxhall,” executed in an uppercase serif typeface.

1989 – 2003

Vauxhall Logo 1989-2003

Building on the previous logo, the developers have introduced a new symbol. It was round. To emphasize the shape of the disc, the authors returned the missing part of the wing to the griffin and bent the flag in a half-arc. A single “V” appeared on his banner again, but this time in red. It was smooth, flat, sans serif. The designers separated the name of the trademark and placed it below the icon, highlighting it in black. All letters were capital and grotesque.

2003 – 2008

Vauxhall Logo 2003-2008

The emblem of this period was based on the previous version of the logo. The difference between them was only in three dimensions. To make the sign three-dimensional, the developers enhanced the shadows along the contour of the mythical creature and the flag, which he held with two paws. Light highlights on the logo added a chrome effect to it. The red circle got a gradient from scarlet to burgundy.

2008 – 2009

Vauxhall Logo 2008-2009

After a period of bright colors, it was time for monochrome restraint. The logo changes were required to place it on different advertising media to make it look clear, distinct, and modern. To do this, the designers made the disc black and cut an oblique cut along the edge, which caused a metallic sheen.

They also enlarged the griffin using only its head, neck, right leg, upper wing, flagpole, and V. The authors painted each element in two colors: on the one hand, there was a dark gray, on the other – white with an admixture of a silvery hue. In the lower right part, the developers added a single bright glare, reminiscent of a reflection, and in the upper – the brand name with wide spacing of letters.

2009 – 2011

Vauxhall Logo 2009-2011

The designers replaced black with red, leaving the rest as it is. The only major change concerned the lettering. It has shifted downward, as in the 1989-2003 logo. The font was also kept the same – large, bold, sans serif.

2011 – 2020

Vauxhall Logo 2011-2020

Starting from 2011, the brand cars were decorated with a slightly corrected emblem. The authors took the logo of the previous period as a basis but deepened the shadows in it. Black and graphite colors have been added to the bird’s neck and wing. Identical shades appeared at the edges of the “metalized” sign: on the right and left, they were wide, at the bottom – narrow and looked like an inverted arch with sharp ends. To add even more contrast, the designers have added a lot of white. They left the V on the flag red. At first, the icon was accompanied by the Vauxhall brand inscription, but after General Motors sold the Groupe PSA brand, the inscription was no longer used (since 2017).

2020 – today

Vauxhall Logo 2020-present

The updated logo comes from the rebranding of the entire Opel / Vauxhall group. It became flat (two-dimensional) and simple. The developers removed shadows, gray and black colors. They also shifted the focus of the image by adding a portion of the griffin’s back (right) and hiding the flagpole (left). Moreover, the designers redrew the inscription, making it smoother, thinner, and more straight.

Font and Colors

Vauxhall Emblem

From the first year of the foundation, the company has been using the original identity associated with the place of origin of the enterprise. Firstly, it is the very name Vauxhall, which was borne by the house where the company was formed and spread to the entire surrounding area. Secondly, the old heraldry of the military dynasty Falkes de Breaute, who lived in that building back in the 13th century, was taken.

The typeface in the logo is hand-drawn, close to the bold version of Helvetica Sans Serif. It also resembles the Radiate Sans Bold Expanded and LCT Picon Extended Black fonts. In any case, since 1989, there have been no serifs in the inscription – all the letters are even and smooth.

Vauxhall Symbol

The signature palette consists of a combination of red and white. At times, black and gray in several shades were also used – from graphite to light chrome.

Vauxhall color codes

Neon RedHex color:#fb0016
RGB:251 0 22
CMYK:0 100 91 2
Pantone:PMS Bright Red C
Blue BlackHex color:#000035
RGB:0 0 53
CMYK:100 100 0 79
Pantone:PMS 2765 C