Prancing Horse

[2]: 37  The logo attained its modern form in 1932, the point at which Scuderia Ferrari systematically adopted it: the team made several adjustments to its design including adding the Italian tricolour, changing the position of the horse's legs and tail, and placing it inside a canary yellow shield—the "colour of Modena," Enzo's hometown.

[1] Francesco Baracca, a highly successful Italian flying ace, first used the Prancing Horse in 1917, when his squadron permitted its aviators to apply personal symbols to their aeroplanes.

[4] One version of the story claims that the emblem originated as a kill mark applied after Baracca shot down a German pilot from Stuttgart, a city whose coat of arms depicts a similar horse.

After a 1923 victory in Ravenna, the Baracca family visited him, and Paolina de Biancoli, Francesco's mother, suggested that he adopt the horse as a good luck charm.

Many explanations focus on their intersecting life experiences: these include Francesco's studies at the Military Academy of Modena and Enzo's older brother having volunteered for Baracca's squadron's ground crew.

[2]: 35–36  Enzo's rationale for adopting the design was based around a personal admiration for Baracca dating to his adolescence, as well as his love of La cavalla storna [it], a poem written by Giovanni Pascoli.

[4] Ferrari's adoption of the Prancing Horse was concordant with the cultural landscape of Fascist Italy, which, drawing from the Futurist art movement, idolised speed, machinery, and military sacrifice.

[2]: 39–40  Ferrari's use of the symbol, among other things, allowed it to establish an image that appealed to populist political values; this would later help it procure military contracts during World War II.