Hi Chris, The crest to the left in the photo (3 crosses & crown divided by feathers) is the traditional symbol representing the old city of Saint Etienne, France. The crest was often used by the company "Belleri" which was also known under the initials & logo: "BF" (naturally, they were based in Ste.Etienne). They were one of the largest French makers of alloy handlebars and stems. However,... the crests on their handlebars also had a diagonal ribbon across the crest bearing the name Belleri, as well. Ste. Etienne in east-central France, since the 18th century, had evolved into a major manufacturing center. By the 20th century, it naturally had become home to a great many French bicycle component companies. Well, at very least, that icon on your bars shows "Where" they were produced.
I'm not sure what the symbol on the opposite side represents... a globe? olive wreaths? star? Perhaps it is a World or a National Championship allusion? Or, possibly even a reference to a specific bicycle manufacturer for whom these bars were originally produced.
BTW: You may notice that during the 1980s, Stronglight™ (yet another Ste. Etienne based company) also began to display a very similar logo on their crankarms. In that case, they had simply replaced the crown with a letter "S". ~ Interesting that they still chose this homage to their home city.
Good luck in your quest!
Bob Hanson, Albuquerque, NM, USA
Chris Kulczycki wrote:
Would one of you CR types be kind enough to identify the bars on my
bike? There's a photo here:
http://i39.photobucket.com/