All racing fans are very
familiar with the famous Ferrari "prancing horse" symbol. The famous
symbol of Ferrari is a black prancing horse on yellow background,
usually with the letters S F for Scuderia Ferrari. The horse was
originally the symbol of Count Francesco Baracca, a legendary "asso"
(ace) of the Italian air force during World War I, who painted it on the
side of his planes. Baracca died very young on June 19, 1918, shot down
after 34 victorious duels and many team victories.
He soon became a national hero. Baracca had wanted the prancing
horse on his planes because his squad, the "Battaglione Aviatori", was
enrolled in a Cavalry regiment (air forces were at their first years of
life and had no separate administration), and also because he himself
was reputed to be the best cavaliere of his team.
The Scuderia Ferrari logo Coat of Arms of the City of Stuttgart. It
has been supposed that the choice of a horse was perhaps partly due to
the fact that his noble family was known for having plenty of horses in
their estates at Lugo di Romagna. Another theory suggests Baracca copied
the rampant horse design from a shot down German pilot having the
emblem of the city of Stuttgart on his plane. Interestingly, German
sports car manufacturer Porsche, from Stuttgart, borrowed its prancing
horse logo from the city's emblem. Furthermore astonishing: Stuttgart is
an over the centuries modified version of Stutengarten (an ancient
german word for "Gestüt", translated into english as mare garden or stud
farm, into italian as "scuderia").
On June 17, 1923, Enzo Ferrari won a race at the Savio track in
Ravenna, and there he met the Countess Paolina, mother of Baracca. The
Countess asked that he use the horse on his cars, suggesting that it
would grant him good luck, but it the first race at which Alfa would let
him use the horse on Scuderia cars was eleven years later, at SPA 24
Hours in 1932. Ferrari won. Ferrari left the horse black as it had been
on Baracca's plane; however, he added a yellow background because it was
the symbolic color of his birthplace, Modena. The prancing horse has
not always identified the Ferrari brand only: Fabio Taglioni used it on
his Ducati motorbikes. Taglioni's father was in fact a companion of
Baracca's and fought with him in the 91st Air Squad, but as Ferrari's
fame grew, Ducati abandoned the horse; this may have been the result of a
private agreement between the two brands. The prancing horse is now a
trademark of Ferrari.
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