MZKT Logo: Meaning and History

The MZKT logo is the VOLAT wordmark, the brand name MZKT uses for its civilian trucks: red italic capitals on a grey-blue background with the full plant name underneath. MZKT is a Belarusian manufacturer of heavy off-road vehicles, especially military trucks, based in Minsk and formerly a division of MAZ.

MZKT Logo

The MZKT truck logo is built around the word VOLAT, set in bold red italic capitals with sharp, slanted strokes that suggest speed and weight. The lettering sits on a grey-blue background, and below it runs the Russian text “Минский завод колесных тягачей”, which means Minsk Wheeled Tractor Plant. The design is a plain wordmark with no animal, shield or other symbol, so the VOLAT lettering works as the MZKT emblem, and the same lettering serves as the MZKT badge.

Red is the only bright colour in this MZKT symbol, and the contrast with the grey-blue field keeps the name readable on a large vehicle. The page offers the MZKT logo PNG with a transparent background.

What the MZKT logo means

VOLAT is the Belarusian word for giant, which fits the size of the heavy vehicles that carry it. The MZKT logo meaning is therefore the name of the trucks rather than the plant, while the line below gives the plant’s full name.

MZKT Logo History

In the MZKT logo history there is a single design: the VOLAT wordmark in red italic capitals on grey-blue, with the plant name beneath, as used on the civilian trucks.

MZKT History

What does MZKT stand for? The letters come from the Russian name Минский завод колесных тягачей, the Minsk Wheeled Tractor Plant. It was founded in 1954 to develop artillery tractors. It went on to build a series of heavy weapons transporters for the military of the USSR, including heavy off-road trucks such as the MAZ-537 and MAZ-7310. At that time it was a division of the Minsk Automobile Plant, known as MAZ.

In 1991 MZKT was spun off into a separate company, while MAZ continues to make a broader range of heavy vehicles. When military orders slowed in 1992, MZKT adapted its products to civilian uses, such as mining trucks and crane carriers. Today it builds on-road and off-road heavy-duty vehicles and trailers, and special wheeled chassis for equipment used in the construction, oil and gas and engineering industries. Models include the MZKT-7930 and MZKT-74135.