After a tsunami of criticism from fans of the brand, Ram announced that it was bringing back the Hemi V8 in 2025. It wasn’t gone for long — only around a year or so. Nonetheless, the brand is making sure that no one misses the news of its comeback. All 2026 Ram 1500s equipped with the returning Hemi V8 feature a unique badge on their fenders, which Ram calls the “Symbol of Protest.”

The badge combines a Ram’s head with the block of a Hemi V8, and it has already become so popular that owners of older trucks have been scrambling to get their hands on it. The best-selling clones of the badge on marketplaces like Etsy have racked up thousands of reviews as Ram fans make their feelings known about the long-running engine.

In a press release announcing its return, Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis said that the brand “screwed up when we dropped the Hemi,” but added that “we own it and we fixed it.” Kuniskis didn’t publicly blame anyone in particular for the brand’s supposed mistake, but behind the scenes, executives have made it pretty clear where they think the blame lies.

Speaking anonymously to CNBCAmerican executives at Stellantis said that former CEO Carlos Tavares was the reason why the Hemi V8 was originally axed. According to one source, American company leaders wanted the engine to stick around, but Tavares overruled them, telling them that they “need[ed] to be greener” and switch to electric vehicles.

Another executive told CNBC that Tavares prioritized Europe over America, saying that “when [he] started, he said the center of the company is somewhere in the Atlantic … but it became very clear to us that the center of the company was in France.” After Tavares resigned unexpectedly in late 2024 in the wake of slumping sales, the company launched a turnaround plan aimed at rebuilding the trust of its American leadership, employees, and buyers.

It’s easy to interpret the launch of the Symbol of Protest badge as simply a dig at emissions standards; after all, that was the primary reason Stellantis gave for discontinuing the Hemi in the first place. For some truck owners, that’s likely the main thing the badge represents. For Kuniskis, it’s more about the return of customers having the choice to pick between engines. He said, “at the end of each month, we count sales to customers, not to statisticians or ideologues,” concluding, “data be damned — we raise our flag and let the HEMI ring free again!”

It’s worth adding that Kuniskis returned to the company after a short retirement just a week after Tavares resigned. In that sense, the Symbol of Protest badge also acts as a celebration of the end of Tavares’ Euro-centric leadership, a visual symbolization that American executives’ original protests about the cancellation of the Hemi V8 proved to be entirely justified.

However the badge’s meaning is interpreted, it’s a clear indication that the Hemi is not only back, but here to stay. Plus, even though Kuniskis previously announced its return by saying “data be damned,” Stellantis’ CEO Antonio Filosa now claims there is, in fact, solid data behind its comeback. Speaking to The Drivehe claimed that 40% of truck buyers won’t consider a truck brand that doesn’t have a V8 engine in its lineup. That’s despite V8 engines making up a small proportion of the overall auto market.

There’s no doubt that the Hemi is still a great source of pride for buyers and fans of the brand, but is it actually still a better option than its intended replacement, the Hurricane inline-6? On paper, the answer is a resounding no. Our reviewer spent time driving examples of the truck with both engines and concluded that drivers looking for the best performance simply shouldn’t bother with the Hemi V8. The inline-6 offered more torque, more horsepower, more towing capacity, and better efficiency, all for a cheaper price.

For Hemi fans, though, the choice is still clear, data be damned. The soundtrack of the traditional V8 — as well as its perceived longevity and status — is enough to keep it popular, even if it has been thoroughly outclassed in performance terms. With the Symbol of Protest badge, they can now show off their freedom to make that choice even more clearly.