The car brand whose logo features a blue-and-white roundel with a propeller-like appearance is BMW.
BMW’s roundel developed from the circular emblem of Rapp Motorenwerke, the company that preceded Bayerische Motoren Werke. Its inner blue-and-white quarters evoke the colors of Bavaria, BMW’s home region. The design is surrounded by a ring carrying the BMW name, creating the familiar circular badge.
A common mix-up is the belief that the logo was originally designed as an airplane propeller. BMW did build aircraft engines, and a 1929 advertisement showed the emblem superimposed on a rotating propeller, helping popularize that interpretation. However, the roundel predates that advertisement by 12 years, so the propeller story is generally treated as a myth rather than the logo’s true origin.
BMW introduced a flatter, more minimalist corporate logo in 2020, removing the three-dimensional effects and black outer outline used in earlier renderings. That newer version is intended for brand communications; the traditional roundel remains associated with BMW vehicles.