What Is the Pirelli Logo?
The Pirelli logo is the name PIRELLI with a stretched letter P, whose loop reaches out over the rest of the word. It belongs to Pirelli, the Italian tyre maker that Giovanni Battista Pirelli founded in Milan in 1872 to produce elastic rubber goods, and which has made only tyres since 2010.
The mark is known as the long P, and Pirelli has also used the stretched letter in other words on its products, such as Pneus. The wordmark is available as the Pirelli logo SVG.
Pirelli Logo Facts
| Introduced | By 1907, the oldest known example |
| Symbol | The letter P with a long, stretched loop |
| Logo type | Wordmark: the PIRELLI name |
| Owner | Pirelli |
What the Pirelli Logo Means
The stretched P suggests elasticity, the property that makes rubber useful and that the company was founded to sell. Pulling one letter out over the others also gives the name a shape that can be recognised from a distance, which mattered for a tyre maker competing with foreign brands.
A second explanation links the long P to the founder himself: Giovanni Battista Pirelli signed his name with an elongated P, and the logo may echo that signature.
Pirelli Logo History
The oldest known example of the long P, held in the Pirelli Foundation's archive, is a 1907 bookmark celebrating Pirelli tyres on the winning car of the Peking to Paris race. Before and after that, the long P shared space with other marks, including a star, and for many years it coexisted with versions of the name without the stretched letter.
The usual origin story was told in 1958 by Vittorio Sereni, then head of Pirelli's press office, to mark the logo's 50th anniversary. He wrote that the long P was a spur-of-the-moment idea from Pirelli's agent in New York in 1908, who wanted a distinct trademark for the American market. The Pirelli Foundation notes that this account may be embellished.
In the mid-1910s the word Pneu was set inside the P, and in one well-known version the lettering outlined the bonnet and radiator of a red racing car. After the Second World War Pirelli fixed rules for the ratio of height to length, the thickness of the strokes and the shape of each letter. A second set of rules followed in 1961, and the studios Unimark International and Cerri & Associati later reworked the mark.
Designer Salvatore Gregorietti restyled the logo in 1982, and in 1997 the architect and graphic designer Pierluigi Cerri wrote a bilingual manual that set its colours. Through every change the stretched P has stayed.
The Long P in Pirelli Advertising
Pirelli has played with its own letter in campaigns. A 1978 advertisement, "Tyres with a capital P", formed a giant P out of real cars. In 2011 Pirelli became the sole tyre supplier to Formula One, after Bridgestone withdrew at the end of 2010. Its French rival Michelin went the other way with its branding, building it around a character, Bibendum, rather than a letter (compare the Michelin logo).
For more brands like Pirelli, browse our car logos.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the P in the Pirelli logo so long?
The stretched P suggests the elasticity of rubber. Pirelli's archive also links it to the founder's signature, which had an elongated P.
When was the Pirelli long P created?
The oldest known example is a 1907 bookmark. A popular story dates it to New York in 1908, but the Pirelli Foundation says that version may be embellished.
Who designed the Pirelli logo?
No single designer is credited with the original long P. Salvatore Gregorietti restyled it in 1982, and Pierluigi Cerri set its colours in a 1997 manual.