What Is the Volvo Logo?
The Volvo logo is the Iron Mark: a circle with an arrow pointing up and to the right, the old alchemical symbol for iron, with the name VOLVO set across it. It belongs to Volvo Cars, the Swedish car maker based in Gothenburg, whose first car, the ÖV 4, left the assembly line on 14 April 1927.
On the front of a Volvo the mark sits on a diagonal bar that runs across the grille, a detail that has been part of the badge since that first car. The Iron Mark with the VOLVO name is available as the Volvo logo SVG.
Volvo Logo Facts
| Introduced | 1927, on the ÖV 4 |
| Symbol | The alchemical sign for iron, a circle with an arrow |
| Logo type | Combination mark: symbol and the VOLVO name |
| Owner | Volvo Cars, which shares the Volvo name and mark with the Volvo Group |
What the Volvo Logo Means
The circle and arrow are the ancient sign for iron, the same shape used for Mars and for the male symbol. Volvo chose it because iron is the main ingredient of the steel its cars are built from. In Volvo's own words, the badge was meant to call up "the honoured traditions of the Swedish iron industry": steel and strength, and with them safety, quality and durability.
The name has a meaning too. Volvo is Latin for "I roll". The bearing maker SKF first registered it as a trademark on 11 May 1915 for a line of ball bearings that never used it, and the name lay unused until 1927, when it went on SKF's new cars.
Volvo Logo History
Volvo started in Gothenburg in 1927 as a subsidiary of SKF, with Assar Gabrielsson as managing director and Gustav Larson as technical manager. Their first car, the ÖV 4, nicknamed "Jakob", already wore the Iron Mark.
The diagonal bar came from that car. The ÖV 4 had no grille or screen in front of its radiator, so the badge needed something to hold it. Designer Helmer MasOlle wanted the mark in the centre, and a strip running from one corner of the radiator shell to the other was the simplest way to put it there. The bar later became a design feature in its own right.
In 2014 Volvo gave the mark a three-dimensional look, with a silver circle and a blue band. In September 2021 it revealed a flat, all-black version with a slimmer circle and without the band, keeping the circle and upward arrow of 1927. Volvo planned it for the centre of the steering wheel and the wheel hubs of new models, and for its marketing.
Volvo Cars and the Volvo Group
Volvo Cars belonged to the Swedish Volvo Group until 1999, when the group sold its car business to Ford to concentrate on commercial vehicles. Ford sold Volvo Cars to Geely Holding in 2010. Both companies carry the Volvo name, and the flat Iron Mark of 2021 was designed in collaboration between the Volvo Group and Volvo Cars.
For more brands like Volvo, browse our car logos.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Volvo symbol mean?
It is the ancient alchemical sign for iron, chosen to recall the Swedish iron industry and the steel Volvo cars are made from.
Why do Volvos have a diagonal line on the grille?
The first Volvo, the ÖV 4 of 1927, had no grille, so a bar across the radiator was needed to hold the badge in the centre.
What does the word Volvo mean?
It is Latin for "I roll", a name first registered by the bearing maker SKF in 1915.
Did Volvo change its logo in 2021?
Yes. In September 2021 Volvo revealed a flat, black version of the Iron Mark without the blue band.