Why Does The AMG Badge Have A Tree On It?

Many performance car manufacturers will include symbols that bring to mind really powerful things. Take Ferrari for example, with its prancing horse taken from the emblem used by a WW1 ace pilot. Or Porsche, which has a rearing horse as a nod to the Stuttgart city emblem. Then there’s the Ford Mustang, using… ok, they’re mostly horses.

You know who doesn’t put a horse on its badge, though? Mercedes-AMG. Instead, Mercedes’ division of power, speed and generally making things with enough torque to move the earth symbolises it all with… an apple tree. Wait, what?

That’s partly true, anyway. Of course, when you see an AMG logo, usually it’s just the three letters standing for ‘Aufrecht Melcher Großaspach’. Those are a nod to the surnames of Mercedes’ founders Hans- Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher, and then the city where Aufrecht was born – Großaspach.

Look at the front of a proper AMG though, and you’ll notice a little roundel on the top of the bumper in place of the usual Mercedes three-pointed star that’s housed with a blue border.

On there is the familiar AMG lettering below a more detailed emblem. To the right, a cam, valve and valve spring. All important engine components so, while a little boring, it makes sense.

Then there’s an apple tree along a river. To the untrained eye, it’s seemingly nonsense – but there is a meaning to it.

It’s a nod to AMG’s hometown of Affalterbach. Although the performance division is now officially part of Mercedes, so you’d expect it to be based in Stuttgart, it started as an independent tuner, based in the municipality.

The coat of arms of Affalterbach? An apple tree along a river, which AMG pays nod to in its badge. Not the most exciting of answers, or emblems, but an interesting one. Keep that in the back pocket for your next pub small talk.