Origin of the name "Alfa Romeo": Alfa stands for "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili", which means "Lombard Automobile Factory Corporation". It was the full name on the official date of foundation, June 24 1910.

 

The second part of the name, "Romeo", was the last name of engineer Nicola Romeo, who assumed the company in 1915 because of liquidity problems. The company's brand mark is actually a coat of arms. This emblem contains symobls of the city tat it was founded in, Milan (the red cross in the emblem). The cross in the emblem is intended to remind of The Cross (of christ), the colours white and red symbolize countrymen and citiziens.

 

There's also a crowned snake which devours a child. That symbol's story is an incident that happened in 1111 to the ancestor of the Visconti family, a then very powerful family in Milan.

Until 1945, the coat of arms also featured emblematized sailor's knots. In 1925, the emblem also had a laurel wreath, because in that year, Alfa Romeo won the world championship.

The logo itself didn't change much in the course of time. The name in the blue circle did change a few times:

1910: ALFA MILANO
1919: ALFA-ROMEO MILANO
from 1972: ALFA ROMEO