The history of the Alfa Romeo badge

The evolution of the Alfa Romeo badge.
In 1910 a draughtsman named Romano Cattaneo was given the job of coming up with a badge for a new Milan-based company, ALFA. It is generally accepted that the badge is based on the coat of arms of the House of Visconti and the Red cross on a white back ground of Milan[citation needed]. In the early part of the 5th century AD a serpent that devoured humans was at large in the area around Milan and terrifying the local populous. It was slain by Ottoni Visconti and this heroic deed was celebrated as part of the coat of arms[citation needed]. While the red cross on a white back ground celebrates the deeds of Giovanni Da Rio who is reputed to have been the first to climb the walls of Jerusalem and erect a cross there during the first crusade[citation needed]. The badge can be seen as a shield, reversed, above the great door of the Castello Sforzesco in Milan.
In 1918 after the company was purchased by Nicola Romeo, the badge was redesigned with the help of Giuseppe Merosi, including now the City of Milan's emblem and that of the Visconti family in a circular motif, bordered by a dark blue metallic ring containing the inscription "ALFA — ROMEO" and "MILANO" separated by two Savoy dynasty knots to honour the Kingdom of Italy.After the victory of the P2 in the inaugural Automobile World Championship in 1925, Alfa added a laurel wreath around the logo.In 1946 after the victory of the Italian Republic Savoy knots were replaced with two curvy lines.The name "MILANO", the hyphen and the Savoy knots (lines) were eliminated when Alfa Romeo opened the factory at Pomigliano d'Arco, Naples in early 1970s.