Shell Logo

Shell Logo PNG

The Shell logo demonstrates the royal opportunities that oil and gas production provides. The emblem shows how, by extracting minerals, the company processes and uses them for various production areas.

Meaning and History

The organization inherited its trademark and name from The Shell Transport and Trading Company Ltd. The fact is that this company in the 1930s was far from the oil and gas industry. It was founded by the entrepreneur Marcus Samuel, who was selling boxes decorated with shells of sea mollusks.

All Shell logos are incredibly similar, apart from minor design differences. They depict a large shell – sometimes with a signature, sometimes without. In 1900-1904. it was an oval-shaped bivalve mollusk shell, but then it was replaced by a round scallop.

Until 1948, the drawing was in black and white. In the future, the brand name developers decided to use a red and yellow palette to make it noticeable and attractive. It was then that the word “SHELL” appeared on the logo for the first time. In 1955, it changed color to red, and in 1971 it disappeared. Designer Raymond Loewy proposed this option. In the same year, the shell was again supplemented with an inscription but placed at the bottom. In 1995 the font of the word changed – the letters became more rounded.

What is Shell?

Shell is a brand of the British-Dutch company Royal Dutch Shell, specializing in extracting fossil fuels, refining, and chemical production. It sells petroleum products, sulfur, biofuels, LPG, hydrogen fuels, and electricity. The Netherlands Central Institute for Giro Securities owns about 40% of the shares.

1900 – 1904

Shell’s debut logo is a single clamshell. It has a classic appearance: oval, with a slightly protruding middle. Thanks to the play of black and white, the designers conveyed a rough texture, depicting it in the form of uneven dots. The shell also clearly shows the alternation of stripes opposite in color, forming a ribbed surface. There is a dashed black line along the edge.

1904 – 1909

In 1904, the artists removed the oval shell and used another – a scallop. The fan-shaped sash is depicted straightforwardly and realistically. Ribbing is visible on it, transmitted by alternating dark and light lines. But in this case, they are narrow and not wide, as in the first version. Transverse stripes on the fan-shaped shell also stand out. Overall, the logo looks like a scallop print on a monochrome surface.

1909 – 1930

After the redesign, the emblem slightly changed its image: the shell became much clearer despite the monochrome being preserved. More black appeared in it, and the lower element began to stand out even more clearly. The artists emphasized the fan-shaped form of the scallop’s valve by extending it in both directions. There is now much less white in the logo – it is preserved only in vertical stripes repeating the ribbed surface. The edge of the mollusk shell is not even, but with slight waviness.

1930 – 1948

To balance the monochrome, the designers added white to the logo. They also reduced the width of the black stripes and rendered them much thinner than before. Now the dark lines convey the characteristic ribbing of the shell and its wavy edge. The developers left the lower zone completely white, emphasizing the real bulge.

1948 – 1955

This period is very significant in the history of the Shell logo because color appeared in it. For this, the artists chose yellow and red. The first is the main surface of the shell; the second is the edges and edges. Such rich colors perfectly convey the company’s main activities related to the extraction and processing of fuels because, by nature, they are the basic shades of fire. They express energy, light, warmth. To make the company’s name fit in the center of the emblem, the designers removed the ribs, leaving them only at the edges: at the top, it is larger and wider; at the bottom, it is smaller and thinner.

1955 – 1971

The authors decided to move away from the realistic style and proposed a schematic but a clear drawing of the sink. As a result, irregularities disappeared from the logo – straight stripes remained, forming a semblance of a structured ornament. The artists continued to keep the middle solid, but the refinery’s name was repainted red (it used to be white).

1961 – 1971

Management approved a new version with a yellow shell in a red rectangle to emphasize the explosive connection and draw attention to the emblem. At the same time, the background harmoniously merged with thin red lines.

1971 – 1995

The red rectangle did not last long in the logo: it was removed after ten years. As a result, in 1971, the era of the emblem with a wide border began: the stripe covers the shell from all sides. Thin inner lines fan out again, forming a semblance of sunbeams. In general, the theme of the celestial body can be seen in the updated design because it is a symbol of fire, light, and warmth. The tapered stripes are directed from the edge inward. The company name is now at the bottom.

1971 – today

After revising the emblem, the developers slightly increased the width of the edging strip, keeping the upper edge of the shell flat in the form of an arch. They removed the word “Shell” altogether, focusing consumers’ attention on the graphic image because, by that time, the company had become widely known. In addition, they replaced the cold lemon yellow with a warm sunny one.

1995 – 1999

This emblem uses the 1971-1995 style of painting; therefore, the logos are completely the same in graphics, but not in color. It is shifted to a dark palette in a modified version, so the red is not scarlet but burgundy. Another distinctive feature of this version is the oil company’s name below under the clamshell.

Font and Colors

The oil and gas company currently uses the 1971 trademark developed by Raymond Loewy. If the artists tried to convey realism in the first versions (before 1948), the scallop shell is shown schematically. It is a semicircle with a rectangular extension at the bottom. It is crossed by seven rays, going from the edges to the center. Closer to the middle, the lines taper. The pattern outline and stripes are red, and the inside is yellow.

Along with this logo, there is still a variant of 1995 with the inscription “SHELL.” True, it is not so popular – it is used only at selected Royal Dutch Shell gas stations.

Even though the image of a seashell is connected with oil and gas production, it is the main symbol of the company. It is a tribute to The Shell Transport and Trading Company Ltd’s historical past, which once sold boxes decorated with clamshells. Rumor has it that the first drawing was taken from the family coat of arms of Mr. Graham., One of the company company’s executives.

There are no inscriptions on the current logo. But in the history of Royal Dutch Shell, there were times when the graphics were complemented by the word “Shell” in bold sans serif type. In 1948-1971. the letters were capitalized, then all but the first became lowercase. In 1971 the typeface was changed. If it was rectangular before that, now the designers have smoothed the corners, making them smoother. In 1995, another version appeared – with rounded beeches.

As for the palette, it only gained brightness in 1948. The first emblems resembled old black and white photographs. But the designers decided to rectify the situation and added fresh colors to the drawing. Since then, the color scheme has never been updated: it, as before, is represented in yellow and red. This combination is believed to correspond to Spain’s red and yellow flag, as California is the site of the first Royal Dutch Shell service stations, and this area was formerly a Spanish colony.

Shell color codes