The Prancing Horse ( it, Cavallino Rampante, lit=little prancing horse) is the symbol of Italian sports car manufacturer Ferrari and its racing division Scuderia Ferrari. Originally, the symbol was used by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

pilot

Francesco Baracca Count Francesco Baracca (9 May 1888 – 19 June 1918) was Italy's top fighter ace of World War I. He was credited with 34 aerial victories. The emblem he wore side by side on his plane of a black horse prancing on its two rear hooves in ...

on his airplane.

History

Enzo Ferrari Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; 20 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari automobil ...

was a racing driver for

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...

in the earlier decades of the twentieth century. Following one of his wins at the

Targa Florio The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 ...

, he met

's parents, who told him that their son used to paint a prancing horse on his airplane and suggested that if Ferrari applied the horse on his cars, he would have

good luck Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to rand ...

. Ferrari took their advice and started to use the black Prancing Horse on a yellow background (yellow being one of the colours of the city flag of his native Modena) as the official Ferrari logo. Initially, all Scuderia Ferrari's cars were manufactured by

, but after the foundation of Auto Avio Costruzioni (later known as "Ferrari"), Ferrari began to use his Ferrari cars.

Uses

The ''Prancing Horse'' is used as part of Ferrari and Scuderia Ferrari logos, on ''

tifosi Tifosi () is a group of supporters of a sports team, especially those that make up a tifo. Etymology It is erroneously claimed that "In Italian, literally means those infected by typhus disease, a reference to someone acting in a fevered man ...

'''s flags and as a Ferrari symbol.

References

{{Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Coats of arms with horses

History

Uses

See also

References