A Tale of A Running Horse: The Ford Mustang Logo

Most people will instantly recognize the emblem of the freely running horse. It adorns the front of every Ford Mustang that has rolled out of Ford’s factories. The Ford Mustang logo has evolved over the decades and demonstrated its flexibility while retaining its core imagery and theme. 

The Mustang logo didn’t appear out of the blue. It gestated in the minds of Ford executives for some time before arriving at its first form. Then, it changed to keep up with the times. By understanding the history behind its origin and evolution, we can gain a better appreciation for the iconic Mustang.

The Original Ford Mustang Logo?

The Ford Mustang logo originated in 1962, around the same time as the Mustang 1 concept. Ford wanted its new car to embody the American spirit, and the running horse emblem played a significant role in conveying that all-American theme to the public.

Interestingly, the Mustang almost went by a different name. Some of Ford’s options included Allegro, Avanti, Torino, and Cougar. The company chose the Cougar design, the creation of Gale Halderman.

The grille of the Cougar concept car bore a logo of the eponymous big cat within a familiar border–the future pony corral of fame. Depending on the version, the cougar faced either east or west. Eventually, the Cougar concept took on the name Mustang I.

Meanwhile, Ford designers sketched various proposals for the logo of the Mustang I. Several suggestions featured a cougar, like the original name of the design. Another design featured the knight piece in chess, which is the stylized head of a horse. 

Philip Clark was the one who came up with the winning design for the Mustang logo. He sketched a horse in full gallop. Behind the equine were bars colored red, white, and blue–the same colors as the Stars and Stripes.

Notably, the early running horse icon lacked its famous chrome silver color and pony corral. It also came in versions that faced either west or east as they hadn’t decided which direction the horse should point at the time.

While Ford chose Clark’s sketch as the logo of the new Mustang, the car itself had gone from the Mustang I to the Mustang II. The original running horse proved excessively tall for the second prototype’s grille corral.

Charles Keresztes and Waino Kangas reworked Clark’s design to fit the running horse icon inside the grille corral of the Mustang II and the production car derived from the prototype. Furthermore, the pony received the chrome color we know today.

Ford placed the new logo on the front and rear grilles of the Mustang. A smaller version of the running horse went on the gas cap and went over the tricolor bars. Aside from the third horse and bars, the gas cap also featured Ford and Mustang on its top.

The refined running horse logo adorned the hood of the Ford Mustang for many generations. When the 1980 and 1981 Mustang exchanged their old 5.0L V8 engine for a new power plant, they dropped the Ford logo from the grilles. However, the two Mustang model years kept the horse icon.

Yet, even something as enduring as the Ford Mustang logo eventually disappeared from its eponymous vehicle. That’s right–the Mustang lost its iconic logo for a while. The running horse didn’t return to the Mustang until 1994.

The Return of the Mustang Logo on Ford’s Iconic Pony Car

In 1994, Ford worked on the SN95, a major revamp of the Mustang that would become the 5th generation of the iconic pony car. The company wished to link the past and present generations, so its design team reworked the Mustang logo to meet modern preferences.

The redesigned Mustang logo dropped the pony corral. Released from the confines of the corral, the horse now looked like it could run as freely as the speedy pony car it adorned.

Why Did Ford Have the Mustang Logo Horse Facing Left?

So, what’s the reason behind the running horse in the Ford Mustang logo facing west? Various attempts to explain the position of the famous icon have appeared over the years.

One hypothesis posits that Philip Clark positioned the horse going left because he was right-handed. It’s easier for a right-handed person to draw objects moving left, so it was natural for Clark to direct the horse left.

A second theory suggests that the entire thing was a happy accident. According to this idea, the original sketch faced right but got flipped around during the transfer process, and the rest is history.

While Ford never stated its reasoning for the position, we can check what certain people said about the logo. Lee Iacocca, the father of the Ford Mustang, compared it to a wild horse.  Wild horses are free spirits that don’t act and react in the same way as their domesticated counterparts, specifically racehorses.

To people on the side of the race track, racehorses always ran to the right. Wild horses, however, aren’t confined to galloping in that direction. Thus, the running horse on the Mustang logo ran in the opposite direction–the left or westward.

What Is the Mustang Logo Color Symbolic Of?

The Ford Mustang logo shines silver for several reasons. First, silver contrasts with the bright red paint job of the typical Mustang. Both colors enhance each other.

Second, silver combines both luxury and practicality. It’s the color of a precious metal desired for its beauty. At the same time, silver is also useful in practical terms because it’s an excellent conductor of electricity.

Third, silver stands for speed and, by extension, freedom. It shares these traits with the Ford Mustang, which offers the thrill of high speed and independence to the person behind the steering wheel.

The Ford Mustang logo has a rich history behind it. So, the next time you see the running horse icon, enjoy the embodiment of freedom at your fingertips.

Other Famous Car Logos With Horses

Mustang isn’t the only vehicle that has an emblem of a horse. As you probably know, Ferrari also has a famous prancing horse against a yellow backdrop. At the top of their logo sits three stripes with the colors of the Italian flag.

Porsche is another famous car brand with a horse. Their logo is primarily based on a coat of arms. The horse logo in the middle of their logo pays homage to the seal of Stuttgart, a city in Germany that was originally built around a horse breeding farm. 

There are also other lesser known brands and nameplates from various parts of the world that use horses in their logos, such as Bronco and Baojun. A horse has always been a symbol of power, speed, and freedom across many cultures. Vehicle manufacturers probably want to communicate the same messages and meanings in their logos.