[CR] Peugeot Lion logo

(Example: Component Manufacturers:Campagnolo)

From: "Bob Hanson" <theonetrueBob@webtv.net>
Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 01:05:10 -0700
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: [CR] Peugeot Lion logo


While following several links on a French website which Dale had referred to a few days ago, I went to their Peugeot website reference. Regrettably this was a link to the current auto manufacturer's site and there was only fleeting mention that, oh yes, they had once made bicycles, too.

However, among their company's history was mentioned the following regarding their famous Lion logo:

"The first lion is designed for marking saw blades and steel products. It symbolizes the three qualities of Peugeot saw blades: the toughness of the teeth, the flexibility of the blade, and the speed of the cut. In 1850 the lion image appeared for the first time on the "Peugeot Bros." arrow. Initially put on saw blades, this logo was registered in 1858, and for many years would mark the tools manufactured by the brand."

The Lion, in profile, standing atop an arrow was indeed on their earliest bicycle head badges, the ones which also cite Valentigney, the company's home city - and where the bike factory remained at least through the 1970s, close to the auto plant. The bicycle logo was much later (perhaps 1950s?) changed to the more familiar lion ascending a mountain peak (or rock), and eventually, during the 1980s, became simply a lion rampant - similar to the automotive logo.

Bob Hanson, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA