Alfa Romeo has one of the most ancient and historical emblem among all car brands in the world. This emblem was born on 1910, a few months after the Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (ALFA) foundation, on June 24th 1910.
On the left: the red cross on white field is the symbol of Milan, the hometown of Alfa Romeo.
On the right: the symbol of one of the most important families in the history of Milan (and Italy), the Visconti family – the family that ruled Milan. There are a lot of legends about the origins of this heraldic symbol, representing a mythological animal with a human in his mouth (some believe it to be a dragon, but most likely a snake). During the time of the crusades, Otone Visconti , the founder of Visconti Family and a knight, fought against a noble Saracen knight (nomad from the Syrian Desert that bordered the Roman Empire). Otone beat the Saracen knight and, following the tradition, took the symbols the Saracen carried on his shield: a snake with a human in his mouth. At first glance, it looks like the snake is eating the human. Instead, the human is coming out of the snake a "new man," purified and renewed.
The meaning: The snake is a circular animal (a snake can assume a circular position) and is an animal of the changing – able to change his skin regularly and totally renew or rebirth himself.
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Alfa Romeo has one of the most ancient and historical emblem among all car brands in the world. This emblem was born on 1910, a few months after the Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (ALFA) foundation, on June 24th 1910.
On the left: the red cross on white field is the symbol of Milan, the hometown of Alfa Romeo.
On the right: the symbol of one of the most important families in the history of Milan (and Italy), the Visconti family – the family that ruled Milan. There are a lot of legends about the origins of this heraldic symbol, representing a mythological animal with a human in his mouth (some believe it to be a dragon, but most likely a snake). During the time of the crusades, Otone Visconti , the founder of Visconti Family and a knight, fought against a noble Saracen knight (nomad from the Syrian Desert that bordered the Roman Empire). Otone beat the Saracen knight and, following the tradition, took the symbols the Saracen carried on his shield: a snake with a human in his mouth. At first glance, it looks like the snake is eating the human. Instead, the human is coming out of the snake a "new man," purified and renewed.
The meaning: The snake is a circular animal (a snake can assume a circular position) and is an animal of the changing – able to change his skin regularly and totally renew or rebirth himself.