(Robert Stanley is the creator of the orignial
Pentastar)
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It was 1962 when
then-Chrysler president Lynn Townsend wanted a new corporate symbol
to represent all of the corporation’s brands. It had to be a
symbol with a strong, classic look, instantly recognizable and
universal. Wherever you were, in whatever country, that symbol had
to say “Chrysler.”
I was a vice president and Chrysler account executive at Lippincott
& Margulies, the design firm charged with coming up with the
symbol. We wanted something simple, a classic, dynamic but stable
shape for a mark that would lend itself to a highly designed,
styled product. What that meant, basically, was a classic geometric
form.
We wanted something that was not stolid. That’s the reason
that we broke up the pentagonal form that became the Pentastar. It
provides a certain tension and a dynamic quality. One of the execs
called me up and asked, “What do I call this thing?”
And I said, “Call it the Pentastar.” That’s where
the name came from.
In 1962, the Pentastar logo began appearing on the right front
quarter panel of Dodge, Chrysler and Plymouth vehicles. That was
also the year comedian Bob Hope strutted onto the stage in front of
the Pentastar at the beginning of his weekly TV show “Bob
Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre.”
Soon the Pentastar was put to work as a hood ornament, particularly
in the 1980s. It also appeared at the top of dealership signs,
office stationary, annual reports, the headquarters building
… just about anywhere and everywhere. Even after the merger
with Daimler, it was used on the glass of Chrysler brand products.
Look in the lower right corner and there you’ll see it, right
on the glass. I’m pleased the Pentastar will continue to
symbolize The New Chrysler.
Robert Stanley (left), holding the new Pentastar back in
1962, with Lippincott & Margulies CEO Chairman Gordon
Lippincott (middle) and L&M President Walter Margulies
(right).
