Hood ornaments slowly disappeared as cars became safer, sleeker, cheaper to build, and less welcoming to pointy pieces of metal. Hood Ornaments Originally Had a PurposeSome of the earliest hood ornaments weren’t purely decorative. Exterior-projection regulations didn’t simply ban hood ornaments, but they required protruding ornaments to retract, detach, or bend when force was applied. But hood ornaments now appear mostly on expensive luxury cars, where an elaborate badge can be treated as part of the theater. Hood Ornaments Were Replaced, Not ForgottenHood ornaments didn’t disappear because drivers suddenly stopped liking them.