The Final Word: Colnago's Ace of Clubs Logo

We previously discussed how Colnago's "ace of clubs" design came to be in this piece back in 2008.

Just for the record, this is what has been published on the Colnago website in 2010:

40 years of the ace of clubs

Colnago’s ace of clubs logo has featured on bikes ridden by some of the world’s leading professionals since 1974, but it was inspired by a great Italian victory four years earlier.

In 1970, Michele Dancelli ended a 17-year drought for Italy at Milan-San Remo when he rode home alone on a Molteni-branded bike built by Ernesto Colnago. Writing in La Gazzetta dello Sport Bruno Raschi described Dancelli as having “won on a bicycle that was in bloom”.

Speaking later with Colnago, Raschi suggested the he should create a symbol of that victory. “I liked the idea right away,” Colnago admitted. “San Remo is the city of flowers and Raschi had written that the bicycle was in bloom, and I was hoping in my heart that I would become an ace in the bike world.

“As soon as I got home, I created the new logo – the ace of clubs. Today that logo is recognized all over the world."

Ernesto Colnago

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