Which flag was removed from the original Corvette emblem concept before production?

The American flag was removed from the original Corvette emblem concept before production.

Early Corvette emblem artwork combined a Chevrolet bow-tie symbol with crossed flags. One flag was intended to be the American flag, reflecting the car’s identity as a new all-American sports car; the other was a checkered racing flag associated with competition.

The American flag did not remain in the production emblem because using the national flag on a commercial product conflicted with the United States Flag Code. Designers changed the concept before the first Corvettes were built, leaving the crossed-flag motif with a Chevrolet bow tie and a checkered flag.

This story is often confused with the Corvette’s later badges, which changed repeatedly as the car moved through the C1, C2, and later generations. The French and Canadian flags were not the flag removed from the original production concept. The key distinction is between an early design proposal and the emblem Chevrolet actually used on the 1953 car.