The History of the Corvette Emblem

Have you ever wondered about the underlined, distorted maple leaf on the red flag opposite the checkered flag on the Corvette crossed flag insignia?

The first proposed design had the checkered flag on the right side, where it remains today. On the left side, and crossing staffs with the checkered flag, flew the American flag. However it was discovered that you cannot use the American flag on a commercial product. The emblems had to be redesigned.

Research on emblems had been going on for the 1953 and 1954 passenger cars. The Louis Chevrolet family history had been looked into, in an effort to turn up a crest or some item of heraldry. Unfortunately, nothing appeared. Chevrolet is a French name and the fleur-de-lis (flower of the lily) is very French. So it was used in conjunction with the famous blue Chevrolet bow tie on a new flag to replace the American flag for the Corvette. Thus, when the public had it's first exciting view of General Motors new sports car, the emblems were in place.

Mr. Robert Bartholomew, an interior designer at Chevrolet in 1953, was responsible for the creation of the crossed flags emblem. One of Mr. Bartholomew's original emblems was fortunately saved, after being removed from the Waldorf Corvette, and is now on display at the National Corvette Museum. They say that you can't quite explain it, but there's something very moving about seeing the very first Corvette emblem. And what better place to view it, than the National Corvette Museum.

Contributed by Doug Stilgoe