This is where the story splits between fact and fiction. The first story, and the more likely of the two, says that family friend Marquis Diego de Sterlich suggested to Mario that he use the trident in the logo. Emblematic of Roman gladiators and the god Neptune, the trident symbolizes strength, power, vigor, attractiveness, and balance. It’s all the things the Maserati brothers wanted their sports car to be while also wholly unique.
The alternative story is a tad more fanciful but not wholly far-fetched, and it’s the one we like to believe. With his task in hand, Mario clamored for inspiration and struck out to gather his thoughts. Walking the streets of Bologna, he traveled from street to street, eventually ending up at the Piazza Maggiore.
Walking to the very end of the Piazza, he was met with its famous fountain with the ornate statue of Neptune holding his magnificent trident. This iconic symbol of Bologna supposedly moved him to incorporate the trident in the logo, which is a much more interesting story if you ask us.
Thankfully, we even have pictures of his original drawing seen above.
Iterations Throughout History
Ever since it first graced the Tipo 26 in 1926, it has adorned every Maserati for the last 90 years. Initially, it featured a black logo of the trident on a rectangular metal badge. Still, soon after, in 1931, it received the most drastic change, shapeshifting from a rectangle to an oval so it could fit on the new curved radiators.
It featured different color schemes over time but always combined the iconic red, white, and blue colors. The red trident is meant to symbolize the powerful force of the Maserati, and most likely harkening to the Italian red color of the original cars. The blue represents the sea as a nod to Neptune’s domain, and the source of his strength, and the white/silver represents the land where Maseratis dominate the roads.
