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Ep378: Quick stories behind popular Car Brand Logos · Kidcast Daily

• 0:08
  Spin the wheel, Let's take a ride.
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  Sports and science bursting from inside a world of wonder.
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  Open wide. Come.
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  On. Kids, let's amplify kid cats.
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  Daily starts your day. Fun and laughter come your way.
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  Sports and trivia games galore. Welcome back to Kick Ass Daily.
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  Get ready to learn something awesome today, whether it's
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  sports records, science, discoveries, history, mysteries,
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  or wild trivia. Today we are exploring the quick
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  stories behind popular car brand logos you see on roads, in
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  parking lots, and on TV commercials.
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  We will look at where the shapes, letters, and colors come
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  from and how they connect to real companies and their
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  histories. So let's get on with today's
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  episode. First, what is a logo?
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  A logo is a special design that helps you recognize a company
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  fast. It can be a picture, a shape,
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  letters or a mix of all three. Companies choose logos to show
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  their identity so people can spot them on a car grill, a
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  steering wheel or a key fob. Think about times you have
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  guessed a brand just from a small badge on a car.
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  That is a logo doing its job. Let's start with Toyota.
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  Toyota's logo has three ovals that overlap.
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  Two ovals cross to form a shape that looks like AT and a bigger
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  Oval surrounds them. The company explained that the
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  design lets you trace out all the letters in the word Toyota
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  inside the shapes. Did you know Toyota began as a
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  maker of weaving looms before building cars?
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  The logo we know today was introduced around the late 1980s
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  to work well in print and on car metal.
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  Next up is Ford. The Ford logo is a blue Oval
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  with a curly old fashioned script that spells Ford.
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  The writing style is based on an early designer signature from
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  more than 100 years ago. The Oval shape helped the name
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  stand out on car parts and dealership signs.
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  Did you know? The Ford Oval has appeared in
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  many shades of blue over time, but the idea stayed the same, so
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  drivers could recognize it right away.
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  Now take a look at Volkswagen. The VW badge shows AV sitting on
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  top of AW, both inside a circle. The name Volkswagen is German
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  and means people's car. Over the years, the logo has
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  become cleaner and flatter, which makes it easy to read on
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  screens and badges. Did you know the letters line up
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  so neatly that the white spaces are carefully measured to look
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  balanced on a car grill? Here is a star that many people
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  know, Mercedes-Benz. The three pointed star stands
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  for the company's goal to power machines on land, on water and
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  in the air. It is simple, it is centered and
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  it is easy to spot from far away.
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  Did you know? Early versions of the star
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  appeared on postcards sent by a company founder before it became
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  the official emblem, now to BMW. The BMW roundel has a black ring
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  with the letters BM and W, and a center with blue and white
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  quarters. Those colors come from the flag
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  of Bavaria, the region in Germany where the company began.
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  Some people think it is a spinning propeller, but the
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  official link is to the Bavarian colors.
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  BMW did make engines for airplanes a long time ago, which
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  helped that propeller idea spread.
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  Audi's logo is also very clear. Four rings in a row.
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  Each ring stands for one of the four companies that joined
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  together to form Auto Union in the 1930s.
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  That history is why the rings remain today.
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  Did you know the rings have been shown in silver, Chrome, and
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  black depending on the model and the year.
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  Honda keeps it simple with a bold letter H.
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  Before Honda made cars, it became famous for motorcycles.
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  The strong block H works on a small motorcycle tank and on a
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  large car grille, so it is flexible across products.
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  Did you know Honda racing teams often use different colors
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  around the H, but the basic letter shape stays the same?
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  Hyundai has a slanted H inside an Oval.
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  The company explains it as a stylized letter H for Hyundai.
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  Many people also see it as two people shaking hands, which is a
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  friendly idea about customers and the company agreeing.
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  Both the clean letter shape and the handshake idea help people
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  remember it. Did you know Hyundai is a South
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  Korean brand that grew from building small cars to making
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  electric vehicles and large SUVs?
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  Nissan's modern logo shows the name Nissan across a circle
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  outline. Earlier versions used a solid
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  bar across a red circle. The round shape was easy to
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  print on signs and badges. Did you know Nissan has updated
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  the thickness of the lines in the logo to make it look sharp
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  on digital screens? Subaru's logo shows 6 stars.
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  This connects to the Pleiades star cluster that you can see in
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  the night sky. The name Subaru is the Japanese
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  word for the cluster. The six stars can also remind
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  people of companies that came together under Fuji Heavy
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  Industries, which later took on the Subaru name for its car
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  brand. Did you know?
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  The exact sizes of the stars in the badge are arranged on
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  purpose to match real positions you can map in the sky.
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  The Mazda symbol is AV shaped wing like M that points upward.
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  It stands for the name Mazda and the company's aim for motion and
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  progress. The current version first
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  appeared in the 1990s and was refined for smoother curves.
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  Did you know? Mazda's name connects to Ahora
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  Mazda, a term from ancient culture, and also to the
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  company's founder surname, Matsuda.
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  Tesla's T logo looks like a simple letter, but it also
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  represents the cross section of an electric motor part that fits
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  the company's focus on electric cars.
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  Did you know the company name honors Nikola Tesla, a real life
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  inventor known for work with electricity and motors?
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  Chevrolet uses a shape widely called the bow tie.
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  The exact origin of the bow tie story is debated.
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  Some say it came from a wallpaper pattern, others say it
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  is a stylized cross and there are more ideas too.
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  What is certain is that it has become one of the most
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  recognized car marks in the world.
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  Did you know the bow tie has been used in gold, blue, black
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  and Chrome depending on the model and the era, here comes
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  some quick questions to add new facts you might not have heard
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  yet. Which car brands logo is 3 red
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  diamonds forming a triangle? Mitsubishi.
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  The name combines 2 Japanese words that mean three and
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  diamond, and the logo reflects that history clearly.
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  Yes or no? Is the company that makes MINI
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  part of BMW Group today? Yes, BMW owns the MINI brand and
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  builds MINI cars in several countries, including the United
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  Kingdom. Which country's flag inspired
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  the red circle? In early Nissan signs outside
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  some dealerships Japan, the red circle refers to the sun disk on
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  Japan's national flag, and older Nissan signage used that idea
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  before the current simplified batch.
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  Yes or no? Is Subaru also a Japanese word
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  that means to unite or come together?
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  Yes. Besides naming a star cluster,
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  Subaru can mean to unite, which matches the company's origin
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  story about several firms joining.
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  Which car company uses a lightning bolt inside a circle
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  on many of its badges? Opal Opal is a German brand and
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  it's bolt symbol has been part of its identity for decades.
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  Before we wrap up, here are a few tips for spotting logo
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  details in the real world. Look at how shapes line up the V
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  over West in Volkswagen, the balanced 3 point star of
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  Mercedes-Benz and the equal sized rings of Audi.
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  Notice how letters are drawn, the curl in Ford script, the
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  clean block H of Honda, and the simple T of Tesla.
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  Check how colors are used, Toyota's Chrome against red or
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  body color, Nissan's thin outlines, and BMW's blue and
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  white center. Watch for history hints, Subarus
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  stars from the sky, Mitsubishi's family Crest, diamonds and Opals
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  lightning that suggests energy. Let's do a fast recap.
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  Logos are quick to read signs that help you recognize Toyota's
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  three ovals form AT and can outline the letters in Toyota.
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  Ford uses a blue Oval with classic script.
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  Volkswagen stacks AV and W inside a circle.
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  Mercedes-Benz has a star for land, water and air.
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  BMW's blue and white center reflects Bavaria.
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  Audi's four rings come from four companies.
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  Joining Honda's strong H works on motorcycles and cars.
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  Hyundai's slanted H is a stylized letter that many people
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  read as a handshake. Nissan's modern badge is a name
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  across a circle outline, with older versions using a red sun
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  idea. Subaru shows six stars linked to
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  the Pleiades and a story of companies uniting.
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  Mazda's M suggests motion and growth.
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  Tesla's T also matches a motor cross section.
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  Chevrolet's bow tie remains a mystery in origin stories but is
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  very recognizable along the way. You also learned that Mitsubishi
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  uses 3 red diamonds. Mini is owned by BMW.
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  The red sun idea connects to Japan for Nissan signage, Subaru
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  can mean to unite and Opal uses a lightning bolt.
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  The next time you walk through a parking lot or a ride in the
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  back seat, try spotting these details.
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  You will know the shapes, the letters, and the stories behind
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  them. That is it for today's logo tour
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  and now you can read a car badge like a pro.
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  Thanks for listening and see you next time on Kid Cast Daily and.
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  Beyond breakfast.