When the first Chevrolet rolled off the assembly line in 1912, it lacked its now famous emblem, commonly referred to as the "bow-tie". The inspiration has been attributed to W.C. Durant. Exactly where he got it is not as certain. His favorite version involved a Paris hotel. As he tells it, he noticed it in the motif of the wallpaper of the suite he was staying it. He was so taken by the design that he tore off a piece of the wallpaper and brought it back with him.

If you asked his wife how it came to pass, you'd hear a different version. she said her husband spotted the design in a section of a Sunday paper he was reading in Hot Springs, Va. Either way it happened, Durant was pleased with it and the now famous insignia was born.