Wherever the road takes you, the Renault logo shows that the company is the best travel companion. The brand’s cars are reliable and able to withstand long trips, easily climb uphill and drive off-road.
Renault: Brand overview
Founded: | 25 February 1899 |
Founder: | Louis Renault, Marcel Renault, Fernand Renault |
Headquarters: |
Boulogne-Billancourt, Île-de-France, France |
Website: | renaultgroup.com |
Meaning and History
What is Renault?
It is a car manufacturer from France, officially registered under the name Renault S.A., but it is better known as Groupe Renault on the international market. Its history began in 1899 when the Renault brothers started making four-wheeled vehicles. Now the company owns a wide range of vehicles, including Duster, Logan, Kangoo II, Clio V, and others.
Although the automobile company’s appearance is officially considered to be 1899, the first car was developed back in 1897 and then sold to a family friend. It was after this that the Louis Renault engineer opened his own business – Societe Renault Freres.
The first emblem was adopted in 1899, immediately after the registration of the brand. Over more than a century of history, it has gone through many transformations. As a result, the logo gained wide recognition throughout the world. It acquired its famous diamond shape during a redesign in the second half of the 20s of the 20th century and retained it forever. In total, there are 18 emblems in the career of the automotive giant.
1899 – 1906
The debut sign of visual identity is a refined example of its time. It has the shape of an oval medallion with a monogram on the inside. In the graceful interweaving of handwritten symbols, the first letters of the surname and first names of the brothers – Louis, Marcel, and Fernand Renault – are encrypted. The horizontally elongated ellipse is adorned with a ribbon.
1906 – 1919
The second logo is made in a purely masculine style. It consists of an image of a car of that time, enclosed in a circular frame in a gear form. A solid thin line runs along the outside.
1919 – 1923
During the First World War, the company retrained for military equipment production, so it chose the image of a powerful tank for the logo. Its caterpillars go beyond the circle, bordered by a wide strip.
1923 – 1925
In 1923, the name first appeared in an automobile company’s emblem, which took center stage. It is located horizontally and looks like a frontal print on the radiator grille of the car. The logo has a circular shape and consists of 20 short strokes of the same thickness, enclosed by a thin line.
1925 – 1930
After the redesign, the logo changed significantly – it became a diamond. This geometric figure has survived to this day. The developers replaced the grotesque with a serif font and placed the title on a makeshift plate with two screws around the edges.
1930 – 1945
The stripes at the rhombus have become wider; the edging frame has disappeared, the letters have got an elongated shape.
1945 – 1946
During this period, designers placed a diamond on a yellow shield with a wide gray edge. The interior element with the French lettering “Regie Nationale Renault France” is also painted gray. The shield also has vertical strokes – four at the top and four at the bottom.
1946 – 1958
The designers assigned the yellow color to the company, making it a corporate color, so they reapplied. But this time, they removed the shield and the word “France,” put the lettering on a white background, and added a double border to the diamond.
1958 – 1967
During this period, an emblem was used with a thinly chopped inscription on a white background. The rest of the parts are painted gray. The number of stripes has been reduced to six – three at the top and three at the bottom.
1967 – 1973
In 1967, Renault introduced a redesigned rhombus consisting of two wide triangular markers placed opposite. But Kent sued because its logo also had a similar diamond rotated 90 degrees.
1973 – 1982
To replace the scandalous emblem, another version came – proposed by Victor Vasarely. This is also a rhombus but formed due to the negative space inside sixteen stripes – four on each side. The black shape is housed in a yellow rounded rectangle. Below is the brand name.
1982 – 1990
The designer removed the rectangle frame, replaced the serif typeface with a serif typeface, and sharpened the rhombus’s edges to make it look like a racing field.
1990 – 2004
The linearity disappeared from the rhombus – only four flat faces remained. The upper part of the geometric shape is painted white; the lower one is black. The inscription is enlarged and underlined with a thin black line.
2004 – 2008
The developers colored the diamond silver, added a yellow background, and chose a different font for the company name.
2008 – 2015
All elements are saved and placed in a large rectangle.
2015 – 2021
The current logo features a gray rhombus with a metallic sheen and a graphite victory symbol at the bottom – in the Latin letter “v.”
In 2018, the anniversary of the automotive concern was celebrated, so the management decided to respect traditions and approve the logo’s old version. It resembles the 1925-1971 version and consists of alternating black and white stripes with an inscription in the middle.
2021 – today
What does the Renault logo mean?
The Renault logo is shaped like a rhombus composed of two broken lines. At first glance, it looks like an abstract design, but it actually means a diamond, and it represents the brand’s most valuable qualities.
The company has unveiled an emblem that it is expected to use on updated Renault 5 models in 2025. It features a diamond pattern made up of broken lines that resemble a maze. The author of this version is designer Gilles Vidal.
Font and Colors
Has Renault changed its logo?
Yes, Renault changed its logo in 2021. It kept the general style of the inscription but removed the small serifs in the upper left corner of the “R,” “N,” and “U.” The geometric shape was significantly redesigned: designer Gilles Vidal turned the wide silver stripes into thin black lines and made them double. At the same time, the diamond shape remained the same.
The French car brand has chosen the diamond as a visual identity sign, presenting various modifications. It was first used in the late 1920s.
Different fonts were used for authentic emblems: Century Gothic Bold, Compact Light, Renault MN Bold, Renault Identite, Renault Life Bold. And the proprietary palette is standard: it includes gray (silver, metallic), yellow and black.
Renault color codes
Black | Hex color: | #000000 |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 0 0 0 | |
CMYK: | 0 0 0 100 | |
Pantone: | PMS Process Black C |