In terms of branding, BMW is known in the automotive world for three things. One of which is the more recent facelift and redesign of its models that divided the motoring critics into love-it-or-hate-it camps. The two longer-standing brand identities associated with BMW are its logo and the numerical nomenclature used in the naming of their vehicles.
Despite numerous comical and not-so comical suggestions as to what it stands for, BMW is an acronym for Bayerische Motoren Werke AG or Bavarian Motor Works in English, not Break My Window after all.
The BMW roundel that sits upon all the automobiles and motorcycles it produces is a development from the circular Rapp Motorenwerke - the company from which BMW grew - logo. Like the Rapp Motorenwerke logo, the BMW features the companies letters against a black circle with an image in the centre. While the Rapp logo featured a black horse's head in the centre, the BMW features blue and white panels.
The common interpretation of the interior of the BMW logo is that it represents the movement of an airplane propeller. Given that the company was a prime manufacturer of aircraft engines for many years (including the Second World War) it was little wonder that this was considered as the logos origin, or that BMW themselves adopted the explanation. The actual origin of the colours is much simpler: the blue and white panels are from the flag of Bavaria. Let's not forget that BMW stands for Bavarian Motor Works.
