Skoda Celebrates 85th Anniversary of the Winged Arrow Logo

The logo that made the Skoda auto brand recognizable worldwide turns 85 today, counting from the moment the first car to wear it rolled off the assembly line in Mlada Boleslav and was delivered to the president of Czechoslovakia, Tomas Garrigue Masaryk.

The winged arrow logo (which looks more like an stylized Woody Woodpecker to us) was adorning the luxurious Skoda Hispano Suiza vehicle. During the three years of production (until 1929), only 100 units of the luxury sedan were built.

The popular “winged arrow” design was brought to life in the late '20s and was used for a long time, until 1990. It was believed to be the creation of commercial director of Skoda Plzen, T. Maglic.

The current logo was adopted during the '90s and comprises the same winged arrow, now painted in green with black surroundings. The two colors are supposed to represent the company's interest for environment protection and its 100-year history, respectively.

The industrial manufacturer from Pilsen had already bought the license to produce the luxurious vehicles from the Spanish company Hispano-Suiza in 1924 – one year prior to the merger with the automobile factory of Laurin & Klement.

Production of the vehicle commenced in the spring of 1925 and wasn’t completed until May of 1926.  The design had been penned by the leading coachbuilders at the time, Messrs. Brozik & Jech, and later by Messrs. Laurin & Klement.

Every single Skoda Hispano Suiza 25/100 PS unit was custom-built to individual owner requirements. With a weight of 2,700 kg (5,952 lbs), the car was able to reach a top speed of 86 mph (138 km/h).

You can check out more info on the car logos, history and origins in our dedicated coverstory at this link.