The weird and wonderful history of the Alfa Romeo badge
Few automobile brands enjoy a following as large and passionate as Alfa Romeo. Yet few people know the history behind its ornate and colorful emblem, and probably even fewer have ever noticed its subtle evolution over the years.
Published in
4 min readSep 14, 2022
At least, until now.
Founded in 1910 as “Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili” (which translates as “anonymous Lombard automobile factory”) in Milan. Not only was the name “Milano” proudly written on the badge itself, but the city’s heraldic symbols were also proudly incorporated into it: a red cross on a white background and, weirdly, a snake eating a person alive!
Both symbols’ roots trace back to the Middle Ages and originate from various wholly unsubstantiated legends and popular lore around the origins of the Visconti dynasty, which ruled over Milan between 1277 and 1395 and had the so-called “biscione” on its coat of arms.
The original Alfa badge also included two figure-eight knots. These, known as the “Savoy…
