The Mercedes-Benz star through the decades - 1902 to today - which era is the best

fyi asking before i pull it apart.

A side discussion arose at the MCDA quarterly last weekend about which era of the Mercedes-Benz badge is the finest. Lefteris asked me to write it up as a reference for the forum. Brief history below, sourced from the Mercedes-Benz Group Archive Stuttgart's official corporate-identity timeline.

1902-1909: The original Mercedes name. Before the Daimler-Benz merger, the Mercedes name (chosen by Emil Jellinek after his daughter) appeared on cars built by Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft. No symbol yet. The word "Mercedes" alone in a stylised script.

1909-1916: First three-pointed star. Gottlieb Daimler's sons trademarked the three-pointed star in 1909. Three points representing the brand's ambition to dominate air, sea, and land. No surrounding circle or laurel. Stark and modernist for the era.

1916-1926: Star inside a circle. The three-pointed star was placed inside a circle with the word "MERCEDES" stamped at the top and small four-pointed stars at intervals. More elaborate than what came before.

1926-1933: Daimler-Benz merger badge. When Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft merged with Benz & Cie to form Daimler-Benz AG, a transitional badge featured the three-pointed star with a laurel wreath surrounding it (from the Benz logo) and "Mercedes-Benz" lettering. This is the closest the company came to a "wreath badge". Used on the W08, W15, and early Grosser cars.

1933-1989: The classic. The badge simplified to a thin circle around the three-pointed star, with no laurel and no word-mark on the badge itself. This is the form most owners on this forum will associate with the cars they drive. The W108, W109, W113, W111, W116, R107, W123, W126 all wear this badge unchanged across 56 years of production. The classic form.

1989-2008: Refinement. Subtle updates to the geometry - slightly bolder ring, more uniform spoke width on the star. Released alongside the W201 and W124 production-life. Most owners cannot tell the difference between the 1933-1989 and the 1989-2008 form without side-by-side comparison.

2008-present: Flat modern. The current form. Flatter rendering, removed shadow gradient, optimised for digital reproduction and small-screen display. Used on cars from approximately the W212 facelift onwards.

For my money, the 1933-1989 badge is the answer. It is the form that wore out and was repainted on Sunday meets and survived through the Australian sun on the bonnets of the cars we collect. It is the badge Steve put on his garage wall. It is also (and Lefteris will correct me if I have this wrong) the badge that classicmercforum.com.au now uses as the default avatar for member profiles where no custom avatar has been uploaded.

What say the members? Which badge is your favourite?

HUGO..

1933-1989..OBVIOUSLY.

MY UNCLE STEVE'S 1967 W108 WORE THAT BADGE FOR 56 YEARS WITHOUT BEING REPLACED.

THE NEW FLAT ONE LOOKS LIKE AN APP ICON. NOT THE SAME.

GANGSTA.

The 1926-1933 laurel-wreath transitional badge is the most beautiful of all.. it carries the visual lineage of both predecessor companies in one design. But the cars that wear it are mostly in museums now (W08, W15, Grosser). Not a daily-driver badge..

For practical purposes on the cars we own, the 1933-1989 form is the answer. Steve woulda agreed.

boys.as it is a Mercedes...yes...the badge has always been the same.it is the cars around the badge that change.the badge stays.this is what makes us belong to Mercedes-Benz across the decades.🤭😋🤪

i i put it on the table for you here.the 1933-1989 is the soul.but every Mercedes badge belongs to all of us.