What is on the Tucker Safety Shield???

[Tuckerfan1982]

Hi, I;m new to the site. I've been a fan of the Tucker for many years but have just had opportunity to view one in person a few weeks back. It was the green one in Hartford,Wi. Not sure of the chassis number. Anyway, I've been thinking of getting a tattoo of the Tucker Symbol of Safety but was wondering if anyone could tell me exactly what all the little details are and if there was any symbolism of the items on the shield. thanks!

[Tuckerfan1053]

The shield was the Tucker family crest, as for any special meaning behind it, I'm not aware of any.

[Tuckerfan1982]

I kind of figured as much. Are those dogs on the crest? I'm not entirely sure...

[John K.]

There is a proper way to describe heraldic arms designs, but it's archaic and incomprehensible to most of us!
I'll try to describe it this way:
You start with a vertical oval with a black background. On this you place a white shield with 10 gold wavy stripes across it. There is an upward-pointing, right-angled gold bar in the middle of the shield. This bar has 5 red spots on it, and zig-zagged edges. On the shield above this bar are 2 gold seahorse-type figures, below it is 1 seahorse figure. At the bottom of the shield is a draped gold ribbon with "Tucker" spelled-out in red. At the top of the shield is a gold helmet with "leafy" gold ribbons coming out both sides of it, which extend down to the gold bar. On top of the helmet is an upraised red bear paw holding an ancient axe of some sort, which is gold.
So it's a complicated design, and you probably should get an enlarged photo of it to refer to. The center of each Tucker wheel cover has one on it, as does the center of the engine cover at the rear of the car. If you can find a book on family crests at the library, you can sometimes find the Tucker arms listed along with a diagram.
Hope this helps.

[Tuckerfan1982]

Thanks! It does help a bit. So those are seahorses? They looked like pharaoh dogs to me. I'd like to get a definitive answer before I proceed with this idea. If i do it, it will be all black and gray most likely, full color would be a bit gaudy for a classy looking tattoo I think.

edit***
after looking at several views of the tucker family crest i concur that they are in fact some sort of seahorse animal. I've been looking for some sharp hi-res pictures of the emblem, would anyone have any saved on their pc they can share with me?

[Tucker HCL]

The Tucker crest used by Tucker Corporation in promotional materials and on the car's hubcaps and rear deck lid was created by the firm to resemble a family crest but is NOT a Tucker family crest.

Jay

Jay A. Follis, President - Tucker Automobile Club of America, Inc.
Director - Tucker Historical Collection and Library