BMW Images and Specifications
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Beginning with aircraft engines, BMW AG produced a
variety of products in its early years, eventually shifting to
motorcycle production in 1923 and automobiles in 1928. Since
1928, 96% of all BMW's produced still remain on the road
today. The circular blue and white "BMW logo
hearkens back to BMW's early days as a manufacturer of airplane
engines. It portrays the movement of an airplane propeller agains a clear blue Bavarian sky." The BMW roundel badge is
believed to have been partially derived from the logo of its
predecessor company Rapp Motorenwerke, while ultimately taking
on the colors and checkers from the arms of Bavaria (fusilly in
bend argent and azure). BMW's first significant aircraft
powerplant was the outstanding BMW IIIa inline-six liquid-cooled
engine of 1918, much preferred for its high-altitude
performance, and among its successful WWII engine designs were
included the BMW 132 and BMW 801 air-cooled radial engines, and
the pioneering BMW 003 axial-flow turbojet.