The Swedish automaker wasn't looking at biology for inspiration.
Anyone who has ever seen any of the Austin Powers movies or taken high school biology has seen the male gender symbol.
Despite the masculine logo, the Volvo brand is very pro-female. Volvos are more likely to be purchased by female drivers thanks to its safety features and they also engineered the first all-women designed automotive in existence.
As it turns out, the famed Volvo logo has less to do with a battle of the sexes and more to do with Roman mythology and science. In ancient history, the circle and arrow together represented the chemical symbol for iron. It just so happened that the Romans used the symbol to also represent Mars, the planet, named for the god of war. Since ancient weapons were designed using iron, the two became one and the same.
Fast forward a few thousand years and you'll see various manifestations of the iron symbol used for branding and designs in companies that bear a masculine or fierce character. Volvo took this symbol to not only support Sweden's presence as a mainstay in the global iron industry, but to also become synonymous with strength, power, and quality craftsmanship.
