This article examines the origin of the “Prancing Horse” symbol and its role in helping the racing team Ferrari survive under the fascist regime in Italy. Enzo Ferrari, the company’s founder, adopted the coat of arms of Francesco Baracca, the most renowned Italian military aviator during World War I, as the logo of his new racing team. By repurposing it from military aviation to motorsport, he benefitted from powerful cultural associations and strong political and cultural endorsement of Baracca’s persona. Drawing from scholarship on cultural branding and consumer culture, this study shows how new companies can establish powerful business icons by borrowing symbols connected to populist worlds and national ideologies, and transferring them to various industries. Strategic repurposing thus emerges as a distinct process within cultural branding to obtain institutional support and establish powerful brand identities in challenging contexts.

本文探讨了“跃马”标志的起源及其在帮助法拉利赛车队在意大利法西斯政权下生存的作用。公司创始人恩佐·法拉利 (Enzo Ferrari) 采用了第一次世界大战期间最著名的意大利军事飞行员弗朗切斯科·巴拉卡 (Francesco Baracca) 的徽章作为他的新赛车队的标志。通过将其从军用航空转向赛车运动，他受益于强大的文化协会以及对巴拉卡角色的强大政治和文化支持。这项研究借鉴了文化品牌和消费文化方面的学术成果，展示了新公司如何通过借用与民粹主义世界和民族意识形态相关的符号并将其转移到各个行业来树立强大的商业偶像。