Badger: I'm not sure I can picture which '39 Dodge emblem you are referring to, but early Dodges did use a 6 pointed star as a logo. This picture of an unrestored original, dating from the '20's is a classic example of the Dodge emblem, used with styling changes through 1938.
Over the years I have heard various explanations from my customers. The one that seems most likely to me, is the one that says the Dodge brothers used 2 Greek letter Deltas, which translates into the letter "D." They interlocked the Deltas to form the Star. The Dodge brothers were not Jewish. However, their arch-rival Henry Ford was a notorious Anti-Semite, so some have conjectured that this star would further antagonize Ford. In any event, Chrysler bought the Dodge Brothers company around 1928, and maintained the logo through 1938. 1938 is an interesting year however, as Dodges (especially trucks) that were sent over to Europe as export models, had their own version of the famous Dodge emblem. In the revised emblem, the star was converted to a single triangle by the deletion of the downward pointing triangle. Of course one can't help remembering that Nazi Europe would have found the regular Dodge Star unacceptable, and so is most likely the reason for this export only edition of the emblem. (I've restored a couple of these anomalous '38 Dodge emblems.) But the issue was obviated in 1939 when Dodge adopted the Ram symbol in their emblems.
Hi i have a collection of the 1920's Dodge badges. I have one with the triangles in the opposite color's (black is the up triangle and down is the white triangle, does anybody know what this stands for.I have seen hundreds of dodge badges but only one opposite.......Dave.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Dodge "Star" used in their badging, I have a radiator mascot depicting a hexagram (6 pointed) star. mounted on a Dodge 4 radiator cap. It is nickel plated brass. In the 30 years I have had it I have seen 3 others exactly the same on the same Dodge cap, but none mounted on any other cap, so I have always presumed that it was a factory produced mascot.
ReplyDeleteRecently I have been doing some research but can find no records photos etc from all the usual sources that this was produced solely for Dodge 4's Has anyone come across this mascot on your side of the world? I'm in Auatralia.
Its too much like the Morgan David or The Star of David to be ignored. This is not a mistake. A current Dodge/Chrysler TV commercial has a fast image of the Star of David on an early Dodge radiator. This is not a mistake either. Also, the way the two triangles are intertwined is no mistake either. I will do more research to come up with an answer. Im in the USA
ReplyDeleteyea, then they used the ram later. which was the sacrifice provided in place of Isaac. I think its odd as well.
DeleteIt is actually, Mogen David, not 'Morgan'.
ReplyDeleteSmall point, but accuracy can make further research easier.