ELVO Logo: Meaning and History

The ELVO logo is a black circular emblem in which three concentric rings surround the Greek letters ΕΛΒΟ. ELVO is the short name of the Hellenic Vehicle Industry, a Greek maker of civilian and military trucks, buses and armored vehicles based in Thessaloniki.

ELVO Logo

Drawn in black on white, the ELVO logo has three thin rings that circle the centre like a target, with the four bold Greek capitals ΕΛΒΟ in the middle. The letters spell the name ELVO, which English texts also write as ELBO.

The round design works as the ELVO emblem, the ELVO badge on the vehicles and the ELVO symbol of the company. For a maker of heavy vehicles, the ELVO truck logo stays simple and monochrome. This page offers the ELVO logo PNG with a transparent background.

ELVO Logo History

The design in use today dates from 2012. It is the circular black design with the three rings and the Greek lettering.

ELVO History

What does ELVO stand for? It is short for Hellenic Vehicle Industry. The company started as Steyr Hellas S.A., assembling trucks, motorbikes and farm tractors under the Steyr and Puch names. Large orders for trucks and buses from the Greek Army and state authorities gave it momentum. The tractor division declined in the 1980s as the company turned to military vehicles, and in 1986 it took the name Hellenic Vehicle Industry S.A.

Its first original designs were a military bus in 1981 and the Leonidas armored personnel carrier, which it built from a Steyr model and redesigned as the Leonidas-2 in 1987. Later it became a major producer of military and civilian trucks based on Steyr designs, military jeeps built under licence from Mercedes-Benz, and buses. In 1998 it introduced the Kentaurus armored infantry fighting vehicle of its own design. The ELVO Aletis, a light sports car designed by Pininfarina, was shown at the Frankfurt motor show in 2001 but never went into production.

The Mytilineos group bought 43% of the company in 2000. After it completed 140 Leopard 2 Hel tanks under licence, orders fell in 2009, and management reverted to the Greek state in 2010. A consortium including Plasan Sasa, Naska Industries and the businessman Aristidis Glinis completed its purchase on 14 February 2021, and in 2025 SK Group acquired the whole company.