The Lore Behind The Ferrari Badge

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Enzo Ferrari told the story of the Prancing Horse logo only once, it went like this:

The horse was painted on the fuselage of the fighter plane of Francesco Baracca, a heroic airman of the first world war.

In ’23, I met count Enrico Baracca, the hero’s father, and then his mother, Countess Paulina, who said to me one day, ‘Ferrari, put my son’s Prancing Horse on your cars. It will bring you good luck’.

The Horse was, and still is, Black, and I added the Yellow background which is the color of Modena.

All racing fans are familiar with the famous Ferrari “Prancing Horse” badge.

The famous symbol of Ferrari is a Black prancing horse on Yellow background, usually with the letters S F for Scuderia Ferrari.

The Horse was originally the symbol of Count Francesco Baracca, a legendary “asso” (ace) of the Italian air force during WW I, who painted it on the side of his planes.

Count Baracca died very young on 19 June 1918, shot down after 34 victorious duels and many team victories.

He soon became a national hero.

Count Baracca had wanted the Prancing Horse on his planes because his squad, the “Battaglione Aviatori”, was enrolled in a Cavalry regiment, as air forces were at their first years of life and had no separate administration, and because he himself was reputed to be the best Cavaliere of his team.

The choice of a horse was perhaps partly due to the fact that his noble family was known for having plenty of horses in their estates at Lugo di Romagna.

Another theory suggests that Count Baracca copied the rampant horse design from a shot down German pilot having the emblem of the City of Stuttgart on his plane.

Interestingly, German sports car manufacturer Porsche, from Stuttgart, borrowed its Prancing Horse logo from the city’s emblem.

The name Stuttgart is modified version of Stutengarten, an ancient German word for “Gestüt”, translated into English as mare garden or stud farm, into Italian as “Scuderia”.

On 17 June 1923, Enzo Ferrari won a race at the Savio track in Ravenna, and there he met the Countess Paolina, Mother of Count Baracca.

The Countess asked that he use the Horse on his cars, suggesting that it would bring him good luck, but it the 1st race at which Alfa Romeo would let him use the Horse on Scuderia cars was 11 years later, at SPA 24 Hours in 1932. Ferrari won.

Ferrari left the Prancing Horse Black as it had been on Count Baracca’s plane, and he added a Yellow background because it was the symbolic color of his birthplace, Modena.

The Prancing Horse badge has not always identified the just Ferrari.

Fabio Taglioni used it on his Ducati motorbikes. Mr. Taglioni’s father was a companion of Count Baracca’s and fought with him in the 91st Air Squad, but as Ferrari’s fame grew, Ducati abandoned the Horse, perhaps the result of a private agreement between the 2 racers.

The Prancing Horse badge is now a trademark of Ferrari, the world’s most recognized brand.

Stay tune…

Paul Ebeling

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