Citroen Logo

Citroen Logo PNG

Only forward, up, and at high speed – this is the main message of the company logo. The Citroen logo has a lot of expressions, energy, and a desire for leadership. The symbols also speak of a bright, unforgettable design of cars that attracts attention on the road.

Meaning and History

It is a revolutionary company in the world of mechanical engineering. She made several discoveries that have taken the industry to a high level. In addition to front-wheel drive, bearing structure, and autonomous suspension, she proposed a self-leveling system in 1954, disc brakes ten years later, and in 1967 turning headlights for driving on winding roads. The manufacturer embodied all the innovations in his vehicles, which were subsequently awarded world and national awards. In addition, its products have been awarded the European Car of the Year award.

The company went to its resounding success through difficult years of battles. Andre Citroën built a factory during the First World War and after its end he realized that he would be left with a modern enterprise without products. Then he decided to reorient it to the manufacture of civilian vehicles since earlier he had produced only military equipment. In particular, the owner decided to focus on the passenger car segment.

To do this, in 1917, he turned to engineer Jules Salomon for help in advance. The French industrialist challenged him to design the latest ten horsepower design with excellent equipment, superior durability, and less expensive than other cars. The result was the Type A in 1919 and with it Citroën. Its logo graced the first series of cars launched in the same year.

The identity is based on a gear with double chevrons. The 22-year-old founder of the company suggested the idea after visiting a factory in the Polish city of Lodz. He bought a patent for this technology because a helical gear gives more axial force and, in addition to another gear, greatly increases traction. Until that time, the French company used a bevel gear mechanism on the rear axle. Therefore, the new technology became decisive in the production of passenger cars and was of great importance.

In 2020, a merger of the FCA and PSA groups was announced to form the large industry organization Stellantis, which Citroën and other brands will join in 2021. Naturally, a change in identity is also expected.

What is Citroen?

Citroen is a French brand of the Dutch company Stellantis N.V. It has been in existence since 1919 and produces a wide range of vehicles that are available almost all over the world, except for the USA, North Korea, Mexico, and Canada. In its early years, the brand was owned by André-Gustave Citroën, who used the Eiffel Tower as a billboard.

1919 – 1922

The debut emblem consisted of a herringbone pattern, repeating the location of the notches on the helical gears. For the logo, the author chose two paired fragments since one would not be entirely clear. He placed the zigzag lines in a vertical oval and connected them on the sides. All stripes were blue and double-edged – from the outside and the inside.

1922 – 1932

At that time, graphic design prevailed because the improvement of the emblem only affected the appearance of another geometric shape. There was no text. To represent the authenticity of the car brand, the developers placed an oval with herringbone strokes in an octagon. It was dyed dark blue, close to cobalt, and all other elements were yellow-lemon.

1932 – 1935

In parallel, another company designation was used at this time, which was conceptually different from the main one. It showed a swan swimming to the left under the chevrons, shaped like a mountain with double peaks. The bird was on improvised water, where waves of “moteurflottant” and “Citroen” were visible. She symbolized the fast-moving engines and nose shape on some of the signature models. The swan did not have any roundings – it consisted entirely of short lines and corners. Its head and neck resembled the upper fragment of an octahedron. The colors in this variant were more varied and included a combination of white, black, blue, gold, and light blue.

1935 – 1959

After this transformation, the octagon got wider and had a thin yellow stripe along the edge. The blue color was shifted to the light palette, and the yellow color remained as it is. In addition, under the chevrons was the inscription “Citroen.” It was made in uppercase, except for the letter “i,” which remained in lowercase. This period is considered legendary since the text first appeared in the logo.

1959 – 1966

The manufacturer has improved the design of the chevrons, so the herringbone pattern received pointed ends. It also had “edges” that made the logo bulge. The three-dimensional effect also appeared due to the combination of light and dark sides on the same stripes. All elements were placed in a horizontal white oval.

1966 – 1985

The designers enclosed a white oval with yellow chevrons in a blue and white square. The upper part was painted in a cobalt shade, the lower – in a milky one. To the already existing sign added the inscription “Citroen,” executed in capital letters. A yellow edging strip ran along the edge of the geometric shape.

1985 – 2009

The result of a radical redesign was a new identity. The developers removed all the previous colors and elements – only the herringbone chevrons and the name of the automobile brand remained. Instead, a miniature red square and large black lettering made up of a sans serif typeface.

2009 – 2016

To modernize the logo, the brand removed the background and made the triangular serifs “metallic.” To do this, she used the corresponding colors from the metallic spectrum – silver and gray, adding black to them. As a result, the logo came out in 3D. This effect was achieved thanks to the correct combination of shadows and highlights. At the bottom was the company name in an updated red font. The author of this version is the studio Landor Associates.

2016 – 2019

In the current version of the logo, there is no 3D effect, so the sign looks flat. This is necessary for better branding display in print format and on any media. There is a small shadow from the “cold metal” in the upper left part of both chevrons. The designers replaced the red letters with gray ones.

2019 – 2022

For its centennial anniversary, Citroen has given a small cosmetic update to the logo. Changes have only affected its color scheme: the light shade of gray has been replaced with a dark one to make the lettering and icon more expressive. At the same time, the shape of the two “boomerangs” and the style of the letters remained the same.

2022 – today

In September 2022, the French automaker Citroen introduced a redesigned emblem. In fact, this is a rethinking of the original logo created in 1919. The new version, like the old one, contains two curved stripes in a vertical oval. Only now, a highly visible black color is used for the main elements. Another difference is the wider stripes, which inspire a sense of reliability and stability.

Since minimalism never went out of fashion, the current symbol, like several previous ones, is devoid of three-dimensionality. This is done to make the logo easy to use in the digital environment, especially on mobile device screens. But the design of the inscription at the bottom of the logo has changed markedly. The letters have become more futuristic and have lost thickened lines. The two dots above the “Ë” no longer look like an infinity symbol – the diacritic now looks like a dotted line.

Font and Colors

Andre Citroën personally proposed the idea for the logo. The key element is in the form of two paired stripes, each of which is connected by a herringbone. These are serifs from gears with helical edges, which made it possible to improve the proprietary engines.

Until 2022, the automotive brand uses a custom design typeface based on the Gotham typeface created by Tobias Frere-Jones. The designers only corrected the letters to add originality to them.

The official palette consists of several shades of blue and yellow, white, graphite, silver, and red.

From 2022, the Citroen logo will use a new custom font. The typeface is partially similar to Uniwars SemiBold by Typodermic Fonts Inc., but there are notable differences. For example, in the name of a car company, “R” is not solid – it has an open intra-letter space. In this version, the wordmark is completely black, as is the emblem, which is an oval with two curved stripes. By removing the chrome gray tint, the designers made the symbol clear and legible.

Citroen color codes