Chevrolet, colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet and William C. Durant started the company on November 3, 1911 as the Chevrolet Motor Car Company. Chevrolet first used the “bow-tie emblem” logo in 1914. It may have been designed from wallpaper Durant once saw in a French hotel room. More recent research presents a case that the logo is based on a logo of the “Coalettes” coal company.