The story behind the Cadillac crest, from its French roots to the modern symbol.
William Irvin LewisWriterManufacturerPhotographer
Feb 21, 2023
History has a habit of creating meaning, and Cadillac has latched on to some history that predates the company while also creating plenty of its own over its 120 years of operation. The second-oldest American brand going, Cadillac and its logo have changed many times as styles and trends have changed, but the meaning of the famous wreath and crest (now just the crest) remains the same. This is the history of the symbol that stands for “The Standard of the World.”
1 / 9
What Does the Cadillac Logo Mean?
Cadillac’s emblem is directly based on the coat of arms of Antoine de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac, the colorful and imaginative French founder of Detroit. Thus the iconography comes from a tradition of European heraldry during the age of exploration and colonization of the New World.
Each element of the Cadillac crest has a different meaning, according to Cadillac. The original logo, introduced in 1905, had a number of elements that aren’t present on the original: the coronet studded with pearls and the merlettes (birds; discussed below). The main part, the shield, is a combination of the symbols of two noble houses (neither of which Antoine Laumet, Cadillac’s real name, may have held any real claim to). Cadillac’s own history of the crest notes that several elements indicate various positive qualities, such as purity, charity, virtue, and knightly valor, as well as honorable service by ancestors of the families involved during the Crusades.
2 / 9
Early Cadillac Emblems
Cadillac was founded in 1902, from the remnants of a certain Henry Ford Company. After a row with his financiers over racing, Ford left his own company, leading to a former Ford plant in Detroit coming under new ownership with what would become Cadillac. Of course, Ford himself would go on to found the Ford Motor Company we know today. For the first few years, Cadillac’s emblem was simply its name, rendered in an elegant, stylized script. Then in 1905 the automaker leaned into the heraldry of its namesake, adopting the full Cadillac coat of arms and crest in the company’s first logo reshuffle of many more to come.
3 / 9
What Bird Is on the Cadillac Emblem?
The emblem’s birds are merlettes, mythical small birds without beaks or feet that never touch the ground, always in flight. They represent constant striving for excellence, and when presented as a trio reference the Holy Trinity. This sigil was often awarded to knights for contributions to the Crusades.
4 / 9
Why Did Cadillac Remove the Ducks?
While Cadillac took on the Cadillac coat of arms to represent itself, over the 20th century the symbol was constantly modified to suit the times. From 1905 to 1999 this meant the coat of arms was unchanged, but it was presented very differently over the decades, gaining and losing prominence over time. Finally, at the dawn of the millennium it was decided to move away from the more medieval elements of the Cadillac crest and simplify the design by removing the merlettes, commonly thought to be ducks.
5 / 9
What Is the Cowboy Cadillac?
Cadillac’s rise as an automaker has also meant its rise as a symbol of luxury, even for tangentially related vehicles or objects. That’s epitomized by the Garth Brooks country song “Cowboy Cadillac”, espousing how his rough and tumble pickup is the kind of “Cadillac” he prefers, as a comfortable machine that does everything he needs it to. The colloquial term cowboy Cadillac has since come to refer to expensive luxury pickups that are mostly used for cruising, rather than work.
6 / 9
Who Owns Cadillac?
Cadillac has been owned by General Motors since 1909 and is the second oldest brand in the automaker’s lineup (Buick is the oldest). Cadillac has historically been GM’s highest-end luxury brand, a symbol of affluence and luxury that remains homegrown. Cadillac vehicles continue to push the limits of how comfortable you can be in an automobile, from electric starter motors over a century ago to modern-day Super Cruise autonomous driving.
7 / 9
Modern Cadillac Emblems
Some 120 years from its founding, the new wave of electrification marks the biggest shift in the automotive state of the art in Cadillac’s history. It’s a great excuse for a large shift in symbolism, throwing out the laurels in favor of the sleekest and simplest crest in the brand’s history. This new emblem’s monochrome nature moves further from the Crusader heraldry and literally lights up the front fascias of the new highest rung of Cadillacs: luxury EVs like the Celestiq and Lyric.
8 / 9
What Is Cadillac Named After?
Cadillac is named after Antoine de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac, founder of Detroit. More than a century of different Cadillac crests all bear his family coat of arms, which itself has seen barely any changes considering how many hoods the symbol has graced. Cadillac may have latched onto history back in 1905 to showcase its prowess, but after 120 years of luxury innovation, Cadillac’s crest has gained whole new meaning.
9 / 9
Cadillac Emblems Through History
- 1902-1904 Cadillac name in cursive
- 1905 Antoine de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac’s coat of arms adopted in circular badge
- 1906-1931 Various slight variations of the Cadillac coat of arms in a circular badge, with an exception in 1926 where the exterior was a shield
- 1932-1942 Circular badge replaced with wings sprouting from the coat of arms, with exceptions in 1936 and 1937, where the badge’s shape was triangular and circular, respectively
- 1943-1944 Wartime badge as Cadillac factories switched entirely to wartime production
- 1945 Victory badge as war ends, flag bearing the words “Army” and “Navy” waving in front of the Cadillac coat of arms
- 1946-1969 Cadillac coat of arms over a heavily stylized “V-wing”; coat of arms gets progressively wider as decades go on, with an exception in 1947 with more traditional wings
- 1970-1972 Wings dropped; Cadillac coat of arms retained without badge border
- 1973-1994 Cadillac coat of arms now surrounded by laurels
- 1995-1999 Cadillac coat of arms with laurels once again in circular badge
- 2000-2013 Merlettes removed from Cadillac coat of arms; laurels remain without circular badge
- 2014-2020 Cadillac coat of arms without merlettes
- 2021-2024 Monochrome Cadillac coat of arms
