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Chrysler’s Five-Pointed Star
Chrysler’s Pentastar logo, created by the Lippincott & Marguiles design firm in the early 1960s, was selected from among over 800 other designs. According to its creator Robert Stanley, he wanted “something simple, a classic, dynamic but stable shape for a mark that would lend itself to a highly designed, styled product…We wanted something people could look at and say, ‘This was not done freehand.'”
This five-point star within a pentagon was used for Chrysler’s corporate identity to visually present the company to the public. It first appeared in company documents and advertisements before being subtly emblazoned on the passenger-side fender of Chrysler models to subconsciously attract attention. By 1981, all Chrysler divisions used the Pentastar exclusively–before it began being phased out in the 1990s to differentiate brand identities.
Most people recognize the pentagon for its five triangles. However, contrary to popular belief, these five “slices” did not represent the five company brands–Chrysler, Imperial, Plymouth,
Dodge, and Dodge Trucks. In reality, Chrysler had numerous other brands that sold vehicles at that time–including Valiant, Hillman, Sunbean, and Singer–and the logo’s designers deny that interpretation.
So where do we get this idea? Blame Bob Hope’s variety show. The 1962 program was sponsored by the Chrysler Corporation and featured a graphic that labeled each logo segment with a different brand name. To this day, that interpretation persists. However, the creators only added the star to break apart the solid geometric shape, creating “certain tension and a dynamic quality.”
