Yesterday, The Brand Finance Global 500 released an annual study conducted by leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance. The world’s biggest brands were evaluated to determine which are the most powerful and most valuable. And the results show that Ferrari is the world’s strongest brand. The legendary Italian carmaker scores highly on a wide variety of measures on Brand Finance’s Brand Strength Index, from desirability, loyalty and consumer sentiment to visual identity, online presence and employee satisfaction. Ferrari is one of only eleven brands (including Google, Hermès, Coca-Cola, Disney, Rolex and F1 racing rivals Red Bull) to be awarded an AAA+ brand rating and has the highest overall score.
And by this point, you might be asking yourself why Warbirds News has published an article about Ferrari? It is because of Ferrari’s legendary logo, and it’s connections to a celebrated WWI fighter pilot.
Not many people know this, but on June 17th, 1923, Enzo Ferrari won a race at the Savio track in Ravenna where he met the Countess Paolina, mother of Count Francesco Baracca, an ace in the Italian Air Force and a national hero during World War I. He used to paint a rampant horse on the side of his planes. The Countess asked Enzo to use this horse on his cars, suggesting that it would bring him good luck, and Ferrari followed her suggestion. The original “prancing horse” on Baracca’s airplane was painted in red on a white cloud-like shape, but Ferrari chose to depict the horse in black out of grief following Baracca’s death in combat, as did his squadron-mates on the sides of their planes. Ferrari also added a canary yellow background as this is the color for the city of Modena, Enzo’s birthplace. While maintaining the spirit of Baracca’s symbol, the Ferrari horse was, from the very beginning, markedly different in several details; the most noticeable being the raised tail which pointed down in the Italian ace’s original design.
Baracca’s total of 34 victory claims can largely be verified from known Austro-Hungarian losses and surviving military records, establishing the Italian as one of the highest scoring Allied pilots during the conflict.
For more information visit www.museobaracca.it
Born in Milan, Italy, Moreno moved to the U.S. in 1999 to pursue a career as a commercial pilot. His aviation passion began early, inspired by his uncle, an F-104 Starfighter Crew Chief, and his father, a military traffic controller. Childhood adventures included camping outside military bases and watching planes at Aeroporto Linate. In 1999, he relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, to obtain his commercial pilot license, a move that became permanent. With 24 years in the U.S., he now flies full-time for a Part 91 business aviation company in Atlanta. He is actively involved with the Commemorative Air Force, the D-Day Squadron, and other aviation organizations. He enjoys life with his supportive wife and three wonderful children.
Italian style!!!
Che bella storia oh! toglie tutti I dubiti che avevo.
What a beautiful story, removes all doubts I had.
Tom