![The Shining Bullfighting Spirit Residing in Lamborghini’s Jet Black Shield [Car Emblem Secrets 11: Lamborghini]](https://wheelfeed.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/1623-1761187045236.jpg)
Was Lamborghini founded because of a feud with Ferrari?
There are rumors that the feud between Ferruccio Lamborghini and Enzo Ferrari is partly fictionalized.
As has been discussed in car magazines and documentaries, Lamborghini’s rise as a supercar manufacturer is largely due to its rivalry with Ferrari.
Lamborghini’s history as an automobile manufacturer began in the 1960s. Ferruccio Lamborghini, who had been successful in the tractor manufacturing business, owned a Ferrari, but felt the need to improve the durability of its clutches and other aspects. He proposed this to Enzo Ferrari, but was dismissed, with the words, “A tractor maker has no say in sports cars.” Ferruccio was enraged by this comment and resolved to “then I’ll build my own ideal GT car.” It is sometimes said that the bull depicted on the emblem is intended to be charging at a prancing horse. However, some say this story is slightly embellished.
In any case, Ferruccio was very conscious of Ferrari and set out to manufacture a “new luxury super sports car.” In 1963, he founded Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini SpA. He also built a large, modern factory in the town of Sant’Agata Bolognese, northwest of Bologna. Incidentally, it is less than 20km from Modena, where Ferrari is located, and takes less than 30 minutes by car.
Origin and symbolism of the emblem
The Lamborghini emblem features the familiar energetic bullfight.
Like Ferrari and Porsche, which we have already introduced, Lamborghini’s emblem is also shaped like a shield. The shields used by medieval European knights featured family crests and symbolized family lineage and honor. This motif was also used in city coats of arms, and in modern Europe it represented nobility, tradition, and competitive spirit.
When you think of Lamborghini, you think of bulls. When Ferruccio asked a local graphic designer named Paolo Rambaldi to design the logo, he was asked, “Tell me about your personality.” Ferruccio replied, “Tough, strong, and stubborn like a bull!” And since he was born under the sign of Taurus, the uncastrated bull “BULL” was adopted.
The dynamic fighting bull depicted on the Lamborghini emblem has since come to symbolize the brand’s “strength and power.” Incidentally, a castrated bull is called an “OX” in English, to distinguish it from a BULL.
From the first mass-produced car, the 350 GT, to the first “supercar,” the Miura
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[1] The first Lamborghini production car, the 350 GT, was equipped with a V12 engine. [2] It featured a distinctive two-tone background with a red stripe at the top. [3] The design was already changed to a gold bull on a black background, a common theme for Lamborghini’s current supercar, the Miura.
Lamborghini was the first automobile manufacturer to participate in the Turin Motor Show in November 1963. It exhibited the 350 GTV, a prototype GT car with a longitudinally mounted V12 engine. The following year, this model was released for sale as the 350 GT, with a body modified by Milanese coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring and a detuned V12 engine. The emblem attached to this car features a golden bull and the word “LAMBORGHINI” in white against a red stripe.
The name Lamborghini first became known around the world at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show. The appearance of the second Lamborghini, the Miura, designed by the engineering team led by Giampaolo Dallara and designed by Marcello Gandini of Carrozzeria Bertone, caused a sensation. From this model onwards, the emblem was changed to a two-tone color scheme of black and gold, with a solid black background.
The model’s name comes from Ferruccio’s close friend, Edoardo Miura, a fighting bull breeder, and this led to Lamborghini’s tradition of naming its cars after Spanish fighting bulls. The four-seater GT “Espada” refers to the sword held by the bullfighter, and models such as the Diablo, Murcielago, Aventador, and Huracan are named after famous fighting bulls.
Evolution of the emblem and changes in design
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[4] The emblem of the Aventador, which was released in 2011. [5] There seems to be no major changes to the emblem of the latest model, the Temerario, which debuted in 2024.
In 1998, Lamborghini became a wholly owned subsidiary of Audi and became part of the Volkswagen Group. At that time, minor changes were made to various visual elements, such as the logo, but the design of the black shield, gold lettering, and bullfighting image has remained largely unchanged to this day. In 2024, the company logo was changed, and updates were made to suit the digital age, including the introduction of a flat, modern font. However, the emblem on the car has not undergone any major changes, and the energetic bullfighting image on the front nose remains, a design that has been passed down since the company’s founding.
In the world of supercars, not only performance and price are important, but also philosophy and background. The bull depicted on Lamborghini’s emblem can be said to be the crystallization of that philosophy. It embodies the founder’s beliefs, the ties with Ferrari, and the brand’s “attitude of challenge.”
PHOTO／Automobili Lamborghini SpA
