The Spirit of Ecstasy
The world's most recognized mascot, the silver lady, which adorns the radiator of Rolls-Royce vehicles, has a quaint story.
"The famed Spirit of Ecstasy mascot is one of the Rolls-Royce hallmarks. It first appeared on the Silver Ghost in 1911 when there was a vogue for mascots on car radiators."[Taken from Australian Classic Car magazine (No 130, May 2004)].
A competition was held to design a suitable mascot representing the fluidity and nature of the Rolls-Royce. This was won by noted artist, Charles Sykes who's "design was of a female figure with arms outstretched, gown blowing in the breeze, thought to be modelled after Lord John Scott Montague's secretary (and mistress), Eleanor Thornton.
Sykes described the mascot as "a graceful little goddess, the Spirit of Ecstasy, who has selected road travel as her supreme delight and alighted on the prow of a Rolls-Royce motor car to revel in the freshness of the air and the musical sound of her fluttering draperies."
In 1920, The Spirit of Ecstasy won a Paris based competition for the best car mascot in the world. Because of the casting method no two early mascots were identical.
The Spirit of Ecstasy is also informally known as “The Silver Lady”, “Nellie in Her Nightie” and “The Flying Lady”.
By 1934, the tall figurine was changed to a kneeling pose to accommodate the lower coach work of the Sports Salon. This was replaced after the Silver Dawn by a smaller standing version and continues to represent the Rolls-Royce values and exacting standards.
