The two most widely known Mobil trademarks are the red Pegasus and the Gargoyle. Both were first used by Vacuum Oil Company. Originally the Pegasus image was white rather than red, and was first used by Vacuum Oil South Africa in 1911. It was later colored red by the company affiliate in Japan. Below is a look at how Pegasus changed over the years…….





The Gargoyle image was more widely used by Vacuum Oil in the U.S. and Europe. The dictionary describes a gargoyle as “a spout in the form of a grotesque human or animal figure projecting from a roof gutter to throw rainwater clear of a building”. I’m not sure how that fits with a petroleum product used for lubrication…..but it does rhyme with “oil” and no one else was using it, so why not? Like the Pegasus, the first Gargoyle image was colored white rather than red. Here are pictures of two Gargoyle images that were used……if you know of others or have a Gargoyle progression like the one shown above for Pegasus, please share it with us!!






Richard


Richard Weir
Corinth, Texas