Does anyone know the history of the Corvette flags? Just curious what the flags represent and why they've changed them over the years. :cheers:

 

Louis Chevrolet came to North America via France and Canada. The French fleur-de-lys (lily flower) appears in the Corvette flags in his memory.
http://ky.essortment.com/louischevrolet_rdgn.htm


[Modified by paul67, 7:58 PM 3/9/2004]

 

Chevy wanted to use the American Flag but there is a law against using the American Flag in a logo (or something like that) so they had to use the checkered flag instead.

 

The original emblem ha the American flag on the left and a checkered flag on the right (its at NCM). At the Bew York Motorama, One of GM's legal staff saw it and rejected it. A new emblem was designed using the "Bow tie" and the French fleur-de-lis to replace it.

 

I am considering using a version of the crossed flags for a logo. I won't be using an exact duplication of the GM version but something similar. Are there trademark issues that I should be concerned with?? The logo will be for my detailing and restoration business.

Jeff

 

Cross flags? What flags? :lol: They look as good on the wall as the car :thumbs:

 

I read in a GM history of Chevrolet magazine years ago that Louis Chevrolet while staying in a hotel on a business trip to Paris, spotted the bowtie design on the wallpaper of his room. He thought it would be good for the Chevrolet logo and tore a sample from the wall. He brought it back to Detroit and the rest is history. Talk about a rip-off!!!

:cheers:


[Modified by criz51, 2:37 PM 3/10/2004]

 

:smash: :crazy: :lolg:

 

That's pretty interesting!! Thanks for the info!! :flag

 

http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/history/emblem.html

Now, I have a question regarding the Corvette/Chevrolet crossed flags that I can't seem to get an answer to and I'm wondering if anyone here can answer this question. The Chevrolet crossed flags emblem was not always Corvette exclusive. I know that the cross flags emblem, as it appears in production, was quickly developed for the Corvette when the original emblem containing one checkered flag and one American flag crossed was found to be illegal, BUT, I've seen slight variations of the production version of the "Corvette" crossed flags on other old Chevrolet models, like the '59 Impala and the '67 Camaro.

SO, What does the display of the Chevrolet crossed flags emblem featuring one flag checkered and the other containing a Chevrolet bow-tie and sometimes a fleur-de lis represent or symbolize when displayed on a particular Chevrolet model? Is the crossed flags emblem really a "Corvette" insignia, or does it symbolize something else, like the high performance version of any Chevrolet model, and since all Corvettes are intended to be performance cars, they all wear the cross flags?

If it's the insignia for Corvette, why was it on other Chevrolet models? You don't see the leaping Impala insignia or the red, white and blue bars of the Camaro insignia on other Chevrolets. :confused: :chevy

 

There's another tie-in to the Fleur-de-lis or French background.
The name Corvette is of French origin....

Corvette: A ship being a flush-decked war-vessel having one tier of guns. A corvette is smaller than a frigate, but larger than a brig. Webster, in his work on Villebon, p. 223, sets forth a 1678 description of a corvette "as a long bark, with a mast and a small fore mast, used with sails or oars, which accompanies the fleet for scouting, bearing messages ..." Webster adds that the corvette "was perfected during the 18th century." We learn from the Oxford Companion to Ships & the Sea that while the corvette was originially of French design, it was adopted by the British navy as it was "fast and weatherly".) :chevy

 

I think somebody at GM got drunk and changed the orientation of them around in the C4 years...

 

Here's the original:



:yesnod: :chevy :chevy :yesnod:


[Modified by MassVette, 10:17 AM 3/11/2004]

 

Another Interesting note on the fleur de lis. The French used it to brand women on the shoulder when convicted of adultery many moons ago.

I sometimes think of my car in those terms - high performance, high maintenance, unpredictable, and she'd probably jilt me in a heartbeat, but what a ride!

In that sense, the logo is totally appropriate...

Hans

 

Alright, can someone do me a favor?? Does ANYONE have a pretty large image of the flags? I am working on a 3d image that I have had to put on hold for a couple months now because I cannot find a good sized image to use. The big problem is that I cannot use the actualy emblem in the image as it just doesn't render well at all.

And thanks for the history lessons!!

:cheers:

 

Ignore requests I think I got it


[Modified by Madmikeee, 11:47 AM 3/11/2004]

 

You can download an uncompressed version here:
http://gator454.tripod.com/

 

I read that somewhere years ago also
:iagree:

 

On the red flag, what do the lines represent? Does three lines represent a C3? :chevy

 

"Now, I have a question regarding the Corvette/Chevrolet crossed flags that I can't seem to get an answer to and I'm wondering if anyone here can answer this question. The Chevrolet crossed flags emblem was not always Corvette exclusive. I know that the cross flags emblem, as it appears in production, was quickly developed for the Corvette when the original emblem containing one checkered flag and one American flag crossed was found to be illegal, BUT, I've seen slight variations of the production version of the "Corvette" crossed flags on other old Chevrolet models, like the '59 Impala and the '67 Camaro."

As far as the '59 Impala, the crossed flags over the bow tie in the V meant that v8 was a 348ci instead of a 283ci. This was first on '58s and ran thru '64s I believe.




[Modified by 72GACRZR, 3:02 PM 3/11/2004]