General Mills Logo

General Mills Logo PNG

The General Mills logo consists of two parts: the wordmark and the iconic Big G symbol, which originally appeared on cereal packaging. Since 2017, a red heart has been depicted in the upper corner of the letter – evidence that the company does everything with love.

Meaning and History

The first logo of General Mills was a reflection of the background of this company. It was created based on several flour milling companies that united around the large Washburn-Crosby plant, which dates back to the mid-1800s. General Mills appeared in 1928, and its emblem featured a mill wheel. And over time, the iconic Big G badge was developed.

What is General Mills?

General Mills is an American company operating in the food industry. Its predecessor is a flour mill founded in the mid-1800s in Minneapolis. Flour is still included in the manufacturer’s assortment, but now it is not the main product. The company focused on semi-finished products, canned food, bakery, and confectionery products.

1928 – 1949

The designers stylized the mill wheel by turning the blades and arranging them in the shape of flower petals. This part of the composition consisted of many orange and white stripes. In the center was a small navy blue circle monogrammed in orange “GMI.” The same dark blue ring served as a frame for the logo. It contained two ears of wheat at the bottom and the white inscription “General Mills, Inc.” at the top. For the phrase, a flattened bold font with long serifs was used.

1949 – 1956

In the late 1940s, the mill wheel was on a large dark blue flag with a gold border. The orange color has been changed to yellow. Solid triangles were used instead of “striped” components. Where there used to be a monogram, there were separate letters “G,” “M,” and “I.” The waving flag added dynamics to the logo. It was attached to a flagpole with a sharp arrowhead.

1956 – 1959

Since the company, among other things, was engaged in producing television programs, it decided to stylize its logo to look like a TV screen. As a result, the base has acquired the shape of a rectangle with rounded sides. It was dark blue and was inside a yellow frame. Inside was the brand’s name, for which they used bold white letters with short serifs. The dot above the “i” looked like a disproportionately large yellow circle.

1959 – 1963

In 1960, the first version of the so-called Big G appeared on the packaging of Twinkle’s cereal. This icon was often featured in cereal advertisements, where it was said that “G” stood for “goodness.” The letter was depicted as one thin, light blue stripe with loops and curves. It was between the black words “General” and “Mills” in the same thin handwriting.

1963 – 1969

Edwin Rawlings, president of General Mills, decided to give the company a clean and simple logo similar to the Big G on a cereal box. To do this, he turned to Lippincott & Margulies for help. The designers have strengthened the shape of the “G” by thickening the blue line evenly, making the curves more rounded, and shortening some parts. The font of the black inscription has changed accordingly, and a large red check mark has appeared at the bottom.

1969 – 1971

There was an emblem variant with a dark blue Big G symbol and the bold roman lettering “GENERAL MILLS.” All letters in the brand name were uppercase and did not have serifs. The checkmark at the bottom was missing.

1970 – 1989

It looked like an analog of the version used throughout the 1960s. It featured the words “General Mills” in bold sans-serif, with only the first “G” and “M” in uppercase. The red bottom tick has become wide.

1989 – 2003

Gradually, the shape of the Big G changed: the developers of the logo slightly tilted this graphic sign to the right. The company’s name appeared on the side and was divided into two lines. It used bold sans-serif italics. All elements were painted light blue.

1999 – 2001

Big G is straight again. The phrase “General Mills” was moved down one line. The designers gave it back a straight, bold font. The blue color has taken on a dull and dark azure hue.

2001 – 2002

A wordmark appeared with “General Mills” in gold, which had wide letter spacing. In this case, the bold italic font was used. The Big G symbol was missing.

2002 – 2004

There was also a logo with the company’s name written in thin and even capital letters in blue.

2003 – 2017

The enlarged Big G sign was on the left, and the phrase “General Mills” was on the right. The brand name was split into two lines and consisted of italic glyphs.

2004 – 2017

This logo appeared after the company bought the Pillsbury trademark from Diageo in 2001. The Big G has taken on a navy blue hue, the same as on the former Pillsbury emblem. At the same time, a strip of 24 points appeared under it, which was taken from the same place. She symbolized development and growth. Below that was the light blue name of General Mills.

2017 – today

After the redesign, the company’s logo featured a large bright red heart that took over the right side of the Big G. The row of dots disappeared, and the phrase “General Mills” became the same deep blue as the stylized letter. Now it is on the right side and, in an old-fashioned way, is divided into two lines with a left alignment.

By itself, the Big G sign symbolizes durability and strength, and it is also a tribute to many years of tradition and a reference to the name General Mills. The red heart reflects the company’s passion for food production and the customers’ love for food.

Font and Colors

The font for the General Mills logo is Gotham Bold, created by typographer Tobias Frere-Jones. The navy blue currently used is from the days when the firm borrowed it from Pillsbury. The gloomy palette is diluted with a bright shade of red.

General Mills color codes