Drive and RestoreBehind the badge: the Alfa Romeo cross and serpent
The Alfa Romeo badge is two badges in one. On the left, a red cross on white; on the right, a crowned serpent swallowing a man. Both come from Milan, the city where the company was founded, and both are much older than the car industry. Here is where they come from and how the badge has changed since 1910.
A tram stop in Piazza Castello
A.L.F.A., Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili, was founded in Milan on 24 June 1910. According to Alfa Romeo’s own history, the idea for the badge came from Romano Cattaneo, a young illustrator and a friend of Giuseppe Merosi, the company’s first chief engineer. While waiting for a tram in Piazza Castello, Cattaneo noticed the Visconti serpent on the main tower of the Castello Sforzesco. He and Merosi worked through several versions, and the strongest one put the serpent next to Milan’s civic emblem.
The two symbols
- The red cross on a white field has been on Milan’s flag since the 13th century and is still the city’s coat of arms.
- The Biscione, a serpent swallowing a human figure, was the emblem of the Visconti, the family that ruled Milan from the late 13th century. Its exact origin is lost, and there are many legends about it; Dante already mentions it in the Purgatorio.
On the first badge the two sat inside a ring with the words “ALFA” and “MILANO”, separated by two Savoy knots, a tribute to Italy’s royal family.
1915–1925: Romeo, and a laurel wreath
The Neapolitan entrepreneur Nicola Romeo took control of the company in 1915. From 1919 the badge read “ALFA-ROMEO” above “MILANO”.
In 1925 the P2 won the first World Automobile Championship, and Alfa Romeo marked the title by adding a laurel wreath around the badge.
1945–1969: the Republic and a simpler serpent
When Italy became a republic after the Second World War, the Savoy knots no longer made sense. They were replaced by two wavy lines. In the years that followed, the figure in the serpent’s mouth was tilted and the laurel wreath became less prominent. In the 1960s the serpent itself was simplified step by step.
1972: goodbye “Milano”
In 1972 the word “MILANO” disappeared. The reason was industrial: Alfa Romeo now also built cars at its new Alfasud factory in Pomigliano d’Arco, near Naples. The badge, redrawn by Pino Tovaglia, kept the cross and the serpent and set “ALFA ROMEO” in the Futura typeface.
2000 and 2015: chrome and blue
In 2000 the badge was modernised by Maurizio di Robilant. For Alfa Romeo’s 105th anniversary in 2015, timed with the new Giulia, his agency Robilant Associati redrew it again: the line dividing the cross from the serpent disappeared, both now sit on a single silver background, the outer ring became dark blue, the lettering was retouched and the serpent’s crown was simplified. It is the badge on today’s cars.
Why it matters when you restore an Alfa Romeo
Each era has its own badge, and they are easy to mix up: a badge with “MILANO” belongs on a car from before 1972, a badge without it on a later one, and a 2015-style badge on a 156 or a GTV is a giveaway. Diameter and fixing method also differ per model. If originality matters, check period photographs or the parts catalogue for your exact model and year, and look for an original (NOS) badge rather than a reproduction.
Sources
- Alfa Romeo UK: Our history
- Museo del Marchio Italiano: Alfa Romeo
- Auto.it: Alfa Romeo, cosa significa il logo del Biscione (December 2023)