Home » Here Are All (Well, Most Of) The American Cars With Illuminated Badges, Which Should Have Been More Of A Thing

Here Are All (Well, Most Of) The American Cars With Illuminated Badges, Which Should Have Been More Of A Thing

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You what I don’t understand at all? I mean, other than every human language other than English and the continued existence of circus peanuts? I don’t understand why cars with illuminated badges weren’t a bigger deal here in America. America is the birthplace of the gaudy, illuminated advertising sign, the birthplace of Las Vegas, home to more illuminated signage than anywhere else in the known universe, and a land that welcomes showy, bold displays of branding. So why have our cars been so tepid about lighting up their badges? Well, not all of them have, so let’s look at the small set of American cars that actually did take the effort to make their badges shine.

Before we talk about American illuminated-badge efforts, we pretty much have to talk about the one marque that has become synonymous with the idea: Wolseley, of Britain. Wolseley had been putting little light bulbs inside of their badges since 1932, and continued to do so until the marque, which had been a badge-engineered Morris brand since the 1950s or so, shut down in 1975.

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Wolseley

Wolseleys were used as cop cars in the UK in the ’50s and ’60s, so I bet that glowing badge was a dead giveaway that a cop might be behind you. In that sense, these badges may have done a great service to motorists all over Britain. Also, knowing that these cars tended to have Lucas electrical systems, I wonder how many times a Wolseley driver has attempted to drive home in the dark with only that night-light-level badge light?

I suppose it’s fun to imagine the life of a Briton stuck out on a wet 1960s night with no working headlights, but we have a job to to here, and that’s consider, meaningfully, what American cars had illuminated badges. I think the first real exploration of this concept wasn’t exactly a badge, but illuminated hood ornaments, like what Pontiac liked to use in the late 1940s and early 1950s:

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Pontiac

Objectively, these are kind of odd things, these illuminated Pontiac hood ornaments. The illuminated bit is almost always an amber plastic representation of the head of the Odawa (Ottowa) Native American tribe’s chief, Pontiac. Chief Pontiac started a rebellion against the British after the French and Indian war, which included an attempted surprise attack on Fort Detroit. He was a noble figure, which may be why it’s sort of odd to see his orange head grafted onto the bodies of what look like art deco aircraft.

Maybe the first actual illuminated badge-badge would be the 1965 Chrysler 300L, which had a red-white-and-blue round emblem front and center on the grille, and it lit up with a little bulb behind it:

300l

(image from American Torque)

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The connotations of the letter “L” may today may make this undesirable, but I don’t think that’s an adequate explanation for why illuminated badges were so infrequent for the next roughly two decades.

Well, actually, it’s not that simple. Should we only consider front-end badges for this? That’s how I normally think of illuminated badges, in the context of grille or hood badges, but if we want to count other lighting, we have to go back to Pontiac, who used badge-shaped rear side marker lamps for the Firebird in 1968 and 1969:

Firebird

And, if we go back up front, what do we think of illuminated badges that aren’t for the carmaker themselves, but rather specific to the model of car? In that case, the 1977 Oldsmobile Toronado boasted two illuminated front end grille badges:

Toronado

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These seem like they could be sidelights or position lights, but that job is being done, in a style typical of the time and place, by the indicator/parking lamps. So, these really are just decorative lights.

Things calmed down again in the illuminated badge world until 1986, when the Mercury Sable decided to illuminate the whole front end of the car with a bold bar of glorious light; initially this bar did not incorporate the logo which was on an un-illuminated panel in the middle, but by 1989 lights were behind the badge and into the early 1990s, Mercury applied this bar of light to multiple models across the range, from Tracer to Nautica.

Mercury

My question here is does an un-illuminated badge set upon an illuminated bar constitute an illuminated badge? I’m not so sure it does. I think to actually qualify, a badge needs to be illuminated from within, as we all are with the all-encompassing love of automobiles. Mercury eventually did manage to find the True Path, and by 1997 the now-redesigned Mercury Sable boasted a true illuminated grille badge:

Sable

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Man, I’m not sure I’ve ever actually seen one of these lit up, somehow! And yet if you look at the part, you can see the plug right there for the wires that carry the life-giving 12V that set aglow a little light bulb in that badge.

Currently, we’re in a renaissance of illuminated car badges. Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Hummer, and other carmakers are getting into it as well. What was once rare and obscure may soon be on its way to becoming commonplace.

Modern

While I revel in any attempt for a carmaker to have some fun with lighting, I will miss the challenge of identifying a car simply by its headlamp signature on a dark or even foggy night; an illuminated badge would just make it all too easy.

Still, I suppose it’s about damn time.

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Ranwhenparked
Ranwhenparked
1 year ago

The 95ish-2000 Pontiac Sunfire had name illuminated on the rear by the license plate bulb(s)….only the coupes I believe.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/2001_pontiac_sunfire_gt_rear.jpg

aSAABforever
aSAABforever
1 year ago

I believe Ford offered an illuminated “corral” emblem for ‘65-‘66 Mustang as a dealer option through Rotunda.

Mark Mullen
Mark Mullen
1 year ago

Haven’t seen it called out in the comments yet, but all of the Scion 10 Series cars had illuminated badges.
https://www.motortrend.com/news/scion-prices-special-edition-10-series-models-222845/

Stryker_T
Stryker_T
1 year ago
Reply to  Mark Mullen

I was coming down here to mention the same thing, I remember people hating them as supposedly tacky, now Mercedes is doing the exact same thing

The World of Vee
The World of Vee
2 months ago
Reply to  Stryker_T

Merc’s illuminated badges are a sign that you have the lower spec car though lol

Trust Doesn't Rust
Trust Doesn't Rust
1 year ago

I support illuminated badges but only if manufacturers go back to making reasonably-sized badges. Mercedes, I’m looking in your direction.

Dennis Ames
Dennis Ames
1 year ago

I thought the ’47 Plymouth Bussiness Coupe, that I looked in 1982 had an illuminated hood ornament as well. It’s one of the cars that got away from me.



CUlater
CUlater
1 year ago

Right after I bought my 87 Shelby Lancer I used the brochure’s ‘CS Shelby’ logo to cut it out on a dark piece of plastic film that I put over the CHMSL brake light lens to illuminate it. Illuminated logo fan for 36 years now. I still wonder why this never became a thing with third brake lights…

Last edited 1 year ago by CUlater
Nick Fortes
Nick Fortes
1 year ago
Reply to  CUlater

It’s probably something dumb like they need a certain amount of square inches of illuminated lens in order to be legal and making that illuminated lens out of letters would just reduce the amount of lighted area requiring an even bigger third brake light.

The World of Vee
The World of Vee
2 months ago
Reply to  CUlater

My viper has a viper cut out on the 3rd brake light. it was super common on RSXs back in the day too

Craig LeMoyne
Craig LeMoyne
1 year ago

I really wish the 1997 Sable badge lit up, but having lived in Metro Detroit where the per capita number of Sables was higher than anywhere else, I’m positive they didn’t light up. My dad had a ‘98 Sable LS from new and it didn’t, but I do know there were some major cost reductions on the ‘98 Taurus/Sable.

Eggsalad
Eggsalad
1 year ago

I think the CHMSL on the Cadillac Allante was a light up badge, does it count if it only illuminates on braking??

Dávid Tóth
Dávid Tóth
1 year ago

Nissan has put these on the facelifted ZE1 Leaf. By regulation, these are not allowed in my country, but I was asked several times to make them work. They have the wiring and connector ready, you just need to provide power to said wiring.

Clark B
Clark B
1 year ago

The Sable with the light bar reminds me of a vacuum cleaner my parents (or some relative) had when I was a kid.

J Money
J Money
1 year ago
Reply to  Clark B

God, what a great comparison. Both appliances you kind of need in your life. Both appliances you don’t want to completely cheap on out or you’ll regret it. And both appliances you might get a little excited about when they’re new but don’t want to tell people you’re excited or you’ll feel like a dork.

Wagen Volk
Wagen Volk
1 year ago

I don’t like illuminated emblems front and back for two reasons.
1. Even if the energy consumption might be as low as possible, it still uses energy, thus reduces the range of a vehicle, especially an electric vehicle.
2. The light pollution contributing to all light pollution in general, again though it might be marginal.
I would always choose the option without illumination.

J Money
J Money
1 year ago
Reply to  Wagen Volk

The idea of the illuminated badge reducing range in any perceptible way made me laugh.

Hangover Grenade
Hangover Grenade
1 year ago
Reply to  J Money

Won’t someone think of the light pollution?!?

Stryker_T
Stryker_T
1 year ago
Reply to  J Money

I remember when there was a ruckus about having your iPod plugged into the radio and the drain it caused and thinking if they only knew what their HVAC or headlights were doing!

Last edited 1 year ago by Stryker_T
Martin Ibert
Martin Ibert
1 year ago

I don’t think an “illuminated badge” needs to be illuminated from within. It could also have a light shining on it, like some airlines’ aircraft tail fins. But if you set an opaque badge on an illuminated strip, the badge is clearly not illuminated. You could say that on the contrary, the badge is obscured by the light around it.

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