What Is the Motorola Logo?
The Motorola logo is a stylised letter M made of two pointed arches, nicknamed the batwing, shown with the name motorola in lowercase letters on Motorola phones. The brand began in Chicago in 1930 as the name of a car radio made by Galvin Manufacturing Corporation, the company Paul and Joseph Galvin founded in 1928, and it is used by both Motorola Mobility, the Lenovo-owned phone maker, and Motorola Solutions, which makes radio and communications systems.
The M has been part of the brand since 1955. The batwing with the lowercase name is available as the Motorola logo SVG.
Motorola Logo Facts
| Designer | Morton Goldsholl Associates, Chicago |
| Introduced | Batwing M June 1955; lowercase phone logo 25 May 2017 |
| Symbol | A stylised M, known as the batwing |
| Logo type | Combination mark: the batwing M and the motorola name |
| Owner | Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC |
What the Motorola Logo Means
The name came first. Paul Galvin wanted a brand for the company's new car radio and joined "motor", from motor car, with "ola", the ending of the Victrola record player, to suggest sound. Motorola sums up the result as "sound in motion".
The M carries the same idea in a picture. Its nickname comes from its likeness to a bat's spread wings, but the shape stands for two radio wave forms: the rounded curves recall a sine wave and the sharp peaks a triangle wave. When Motorola introduced the stylised M insignia, it nicknamed it the "emsignia".
Motorola Logo History
The brand is 25 years older than the M. Galvin sold the first Motorola-branded radio on 23 June 1930, and the brand grew so well known that in 1947 Galvin Manufacturing Corporation renamed itself Motorola, Inc.
As part of a modernisation programme in the 1950s, Motorola asked the Chicago studio of Morton Goldsholl to create a strong graphic mark. The stylised M was introduced in June 1955, and Motorola's own history credits Goldsholl with the design. The design history site Logo Histories credits the M itself to Thomas Miller, a Black designer the studio hired after other studios had refused to employ him.
On 4 January 2011 Motorola, Inc. split into two companies, Motorola Solutions and Motorola Mobility, and both kept the M. Google bought Motorola Mobility in May 2012 and sold it to Lenovo on 30 October 2014. On 25 May 2017 the phone business adopted a new logo that sets the batwing beside the name in lowercase letters.
Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions
The batwing is used by two companies that went separate ways in 2011. Motorola Solutions, the legal successor of the original firm, uses the M on mission-critical communication products for businesses and governments, while Motorola Mobility puts it on Razr and moto phones built under Lenovo, from offices in Chicago's Merchandise Mart. On the phone side the M competes with marks such as the Samsung logo and the Xiaomi logo.
For more brands like Motorola, browse our tech logos.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the Motorola logo called the batwing?
The two pointed arches of the stylised M look like a bat's spread wings, which gave the 1955 mark its nickname.
What does the name Motorola mean?
It joins "motor", from motor car, with "ola", suggesting sound, because the first Motorola product in 1930 was a car radio.
Who designed the Motorola logo?
Motorola credits Chicago designer Morton Goldsholl, whose studio introduced the M in 1955; Logo Histories names Thomas Miller, a designer at the studio, as the creator of the M.
Does Lenovo own Motorola?
Lenovo has owned Motorola Mobility, the phone maker, since 30 October 2014. Motorola Solutions is a separate company.