Leffe Logo PNG
An old recipe for excellent beer shows the Leffe logo. The elements show deep reverence for history and love for the motherland. A special amber drink plays and foams in the shades, absorbing the best of Belgium’s vegetable aromas.
Belgium has its premium beer, Leffe, a fruity ale with a slightly spicy edge. The brand is owned by the international brewing corporation Anheuser-Busch InBev through its division InBev Belgium. All Leffe varieties are produced in the city of Leuven in the province of Flemish Brabant, in the same place where Stella Artois is made. Instead of using standard advertising media, the company uses an online newsletter, Leffervescense, to familiarize customers with its product range.
The beer brand began in 1952, when the small commercial brewery Lootvoet agreed with Notre-Dame de Leffe, turning the abbey’s brewing tradition into a brand. Then Lootvoet became part of AB InBev, while the contract was not terminated. As a result, the Catholic monastery still profits from sales, and the company has the right to use its history in marketing.
The advertisement implies that Leffe is prepared according to the original recipes of the monks who founded the abbey in 1152 and, 88 years later, began brewing beer to offer it to pilgrims instead of drinking water. During epidemics, water was unsafe, and all infections died in beer due to special heat treatment. Over the following centuries, the monastery was plundered and destroyed several times, after which it was sold in parts. It was only restored in 1902, but the brewing tradition, which had been forgotten in 1809, is a thing of the past: since then, alcohol has not been brewed at Notre-Dame de Leffe. However, some monks decided to capitalize on the abbey’s glorious history and sold the right to use the Leffe brand to a commercial company.
Meaning and History
Created in 1952, AB InBev uses a variety of advertising media to underscore the brand’s connection to the ancient Catholic monastery. One of them is the logo, which depicts the abbey building as a colorful stained-glass window. It has several versions.
What is Leffe?
Leffe is a legendary Belgian beer brand that was revived in 1952 with support from the Flemish brewery Lootvoet. Anheuser-Busch InBev later bought it. The brand is known for its association with the now-defunct Leffe Abbey, whose monks began brewing a unique ale in 1240. Naturally, the modern recipe for alcohol is significantly different.
1240 – 1929
The Leffe wordmark is based on original Gothic writing. The Old English style is associated with the Middle Ages, when it was actively used for printing. This reflects ancient traditions, as the beer brand originates from the abbey brewery in southern Belgium, which dates to 1152. The brand name is issued in an elegant black font with sharp corners and smooth curves.
1929 – 1952
The logo features an image of the ancient Leffe Abbey, stylized as a stained-glass painting. The main difference from this variant is the simplified tree design, which appears as dark green triangles. There are three dormer windows on the main building and two on the side tower. The sky behind the building is blue, with a white gradient towards the center. The drawing consists of many fragments, separated by black lines and resembling the pieces of a mosaic. It is placed in a brown frame as a heraldic shield. And below is the name of the beer brand.
1952 – 2013
In 1952, representatives of Notre-Dame de Leffe entered into a deal with the brewery, allowing them to turn the monastic traditions into a brand. This is how Leffe and its debut logo appeared, based on the coat of arms. It was stylized as a sandy-yellow parchment sheet set in a red-orange frame, with a gold gradient at the top. Inside was an image of the abbey, in the form of a multi-colored stained-glass window shaped like a large shield. Below it was the brand name in black, and even lower was the red inscription “Bière d’Abbaye-Abdijbier.”
2013 – 2021
After the redesign, all logo elements appeared on an inverted triangular golden-orange shield. The frame’s shape has changed: now it resembles an arch because the lower segment is missing. The designers used it for it, with the inscription “ANNO 1240” (at the bottom), in the same shade of khaki. The stained glass drawing and the word “Leffe” remained in their original places, but the red phrase “Abbaye de Abdij van appeared between them. And the phrase “Bière d’Abbaye-Abdijbier” was removed.
At the same time, another variant is often found on bottles with an old-style shield, which, unlike the very first logo, has smooth, rounded outlines. In it, the word “ANNO” and the date “1240” are on the sides of the stained-glass window, and in the lower-right corner, under “Leffe,” are written in two lines “Bière Belge d’Abbaye” and “Belgisch Abdijbier.”
2021 – today
Here, the black word “Leffe” is inside a bright yellow armorial shield shaped like a spade bayonet. The inscription is written in the already familiar Old English font, but in this version the edges of the letters are smoothed, with far fewer protruding corners and serifs. The capital “L” now consists of three fragments connected at one point at the bottom. The free ends of the “e” were shortened, and the upper edges of the “f” were thickened. All to make the brand name more attractive to consumers.
Font and Colors
Since the company that owns the Leffe brand pays Notre-Dame de Leffe for the right to use its story as a marketing basis, it seeks to reflect the connection between beer and the abbey at all levels. Therefore, the emblem depicts the facade of a Catholic monastery, stylized as a stained-glass window, which is often found in places of worship.
The Old English script of the word “Leffe” also reflects a long tradition, as it is associated with the medieval period. The phrase “Abbaye de Abdij van” is written in one of the versions of the Old English typeface, and for “ANNO 1240,” the designers chose a bold serif with shortened, symmetrical serifs.
The logo’s color scheme is varied. The golden yellow base mimics the tone of beer. A khaki-gradient frame, a black brand name, and a red inscription complement it. But the stained-glass window is very colorful: it contains green, blue, white, brown, gold, and orange.