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A logo's importance lies on several levels...one, simply aiding in the visual
identification and branding of a product. The other is more subtle,
providing links to the past, for example. Indeed, Corvette's logo does
exactly that...providing nods to the racing heritage of Chevrolet and Corvette's
founding fathers (checkered flag) along with a bow in the direction of
Chevrolet, Louis that is...and W. C. Durant, creator of Chevrolet...exemplified
by the "fleur-de-lis" and the "bowtie." The first three generations of
Corvettes possessed emblems with the checkered flag on the right and the red
flag on the left. With the fourth generation, the positions were reversed.
The reversal continued on into the fifth and sixth generations.
 During the
General Motors Motorama opened in New York City 0n January 16, 1953, several
hundred thousand
people crowded in to see the new Corvette. The roadster's clean fiberglass lines
adorned in pure white with a red interior was what Beatniks would have termed,
"cool." On the front center of the hood was an emblem which would
serve as the template for Corvette flags for over half a century.
However,
four days before the Motorama, the emblem used the now traditional checkered
flag on the right and on the left...an American flag?
Yes, Robert
Bartholomew, an interior designer at Chevrolet had designed the crossed staffs
with an American flag and a checkered flag. On January 12...four days before the Motorama
opened...in a formal presentation to Chevrolet, management recognized the problem of using the
American flag on a commercial product. Chevrolet quickly ordered the redesign of the emblem eliminating the American
flag which also looked somewhat awkward, displaying the stars on a
blue field in the upper right hand corner, not the traditional upper
left hand corner.
At show time, new emblems were attached to the
front hood and steering wheel of the Corvette. The new emblem
contained the checkered flag on the right side as well as a flag
with red background containing the Chevrolet bowtie symbol on the
right and a partially hiden fleur-de-lis on the left.
A temporary fix, the debut emblem was redesigned before the 1953
Corvette was put into production. Although the C1
generation saw five changes in the emblem, the wind-blown flags
and the logo remained untouched from 1953 through 1955.
In 1956, a V was added under the flags (also seen on Impalas with
the engine size above; perhaps a stylized reference to V-8).
The evolutionary design retained the circle
and the positioning of the flags and their staffs. The angle
produced by the crossed staffs was sharper and the flags were
noticeably waver, no doubt added by the sharper angle. The
revamped logo carried through to the 1957 MY. However, three
more changes remained: 1958- 1960, 1961 and 1962.
 The
second generation of Corvettes all sported a clean, simple logo
suitable to the lines of the "mid-years." Chevrolet Corvette was
deleted retaining only the two crossed flags which retained the
sharp angle of the staffs but the flags were less ruffled by the
apparent wind. In a twist, the fleur-de-lis was not entirely
viewable and the bowtie was partially blocked by the fold in the
flag.
The third generation dropped "Chevrolet" but retained "Corvette"
under the flags with the traditional checkered flag on the right and
a circular context.
The flags were also less wavy striking a balance between the first
and second generation.
The fourth generation's
flags represented a significant departure from those of the previous
three generations. First, the checkered flag was
moved to the left side. The right hand flag dropped the
fleur-de-lis, retaining only the Chevrolet bowtie. Given that Corvette was branded
so well by the mid-eighties, the word "Corvette" was dropped since only the flags were needed to
instantly identify the vehicle as a Corvette. Last, for the only time in the six
generations, the crossed staffs (literal or stylized) were missing.
During this generation, the 35th and 40th anniversary Corvettes were
produced. The 40th anniversary logo had the C4 flags
superimposed on "40."
The C5 generation of flags restored the crossed staffs and more
literal flag appearance, but retained the checkered flag on the left
side. The fleur-de-lis, for the first time since MY 1982, was
also restored to the flag beside the bowtie. However, unlike
previous generations the bowtie and fleur-de-lis were white on red
background instead of black.
 In
the C5 generation, two modifications to the logo were made. MY
2003 and 2004 saw slight changes to the hood and trunk emblems in
celebration of the 50th year anniversary and the C5-R's winning ways
at Le Mans, respectively. In MY 2003, all Corvettes featured
the C5 emblem in silver with the number 50 above the signature
crossed-flags logo. MY 2004 featured language about the
three time Le Mans C5-R champions which Chevrolet was prepared to
alter should the a C5-R win a fourth in a row...which,
unfortunately, didn't happen.
 The
much anticipated C6 Corvettes sport a set of flags without the
traditional circle which has always surrounded or underlaid the central part
of the logo.
The checkered flag appears on the left as it was in the C5
generation and the right has the familiar "bowtie" and fleur-de-lis.
The flags are also more linear than previous generations, except for
the C4's.
The original emblem, designed by Robert Bartholomew, can still be
seen at the National Corvette Museum in
Bowling Green, Kentucky!
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