he French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac (1656-1730) had founded the city of Detroit (Ville d'Etroit = town on the strait) in 1701. The Cadillac Automobile Company was founded in 1902, or to be more precise, the Detroit Automobile Company was renamed as Cadillac. The influencial force behind the manoeuvre was Henry Martyn Leland (1843-1932) whose engine and transmission factory had supplied Oldsmobile among others. When R.E. Olds didn't want to buy Leland's proposed new engine, he offered it to Henry Ford Company with a suggestion to build a brand new factory to manufacture cars equipped with the new engine.

The classical insignia belonging to Cadillac has been developed from the four-quadrant coat of arms of the de la Mothe Cadillac family. The first and fourth quadrants display birds of the thrush variety and the second and third quadrants symbolize the vast farm lands of the family.