UCLA Logo

UCLA Logo PNG

The UCLA logo is committed to development. Demonstrates reliable and solid knowledge that students receive within the university’s walls. The emblem convinces: studying at a university guarantees confidence in the future and a door to great career opportunities.

Meaning and History

The UCLA trademark and all elements of its visual identity are owned by the Regents of the University of California. The educational institution makes money by selling clothes with its symbols, and it does this both in the United States and abroad: in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

The institution has its seal, which is sometimes viewed as an emblem. The history of this distinctive mark dates back to 1884 when the trustees of The University of California decided to create the first corporate seal. It was developed by the jewelry company Tiffany & Co., but the original was burnt in a fire after a severe earthquake in 1906. Two years later, the educational institution again turned to Tiffany & Co. to update the design. Then a book was added inside the circle, and the five-pointed star moved up.

In 1910, the university began to use a seal that is as close as possible to the modern version. Since then, it has remained practically unchanged. When the University of California, Los Angeles appeared, the designers added the word “UCLA” instead of “1868” (the year UC was founded).

The modern logo is the elegant wordmark “UCLA.” The designers retained the general appearance of the font (handwritten italics) but made the letters calligraphic and removed the long strip that underlined the lettering below. They also removed the word “BRUINS” and the golden outline.

The campus also has its logo – the laconic abbreviation “UCLA” in bold italics. This simple sign represents the institution and all of its departments. Keith Bright designed them in 2004.

The seal is used primarily for ceremonial purposes and in official documents. Inside it is a book – a traditional symbol of knowledge. She is affably open as if inviting to join the world of science. Short dashes on the sheets imitate text. Only the capital “A” in the square is visible – the so-called drop cap. It has an enlarged size and, in this case, denotes the starting point from which the path to wisdom begins.

Directly above the book is a five-pointed star with irregularly colored sides. Beams radiate from it in the form of dashed lines in all directions. The star symbolizes the source of knowledge, and its light is its spread. The bottom of the pages is partially covered with a writhing tape with the words “LET THERE BE LIGHT.” The motto that sounds like “Fiat Lux” UCLA inherited from its ideological predecessor – the University of California.

The book, with its surrounding elements, is enclosed in an uneven ring. This is another inscription tape. It contains the full name of the educational institution, with all words separated by periods. At the very bottom, at the bend of the tape, is the abbreviation “UCLA.” The developers put it in place of the number “1868” when they adapted the UC seal for the University of Los Angeles.

The final part of the composition is a ring of many points. It has been in use since 1910 after The University of California received from the jewelry company Tiffany & Co. your new seal. The logo of the UCLA Bruins sports teams also has a rather long history, although it always looked like an inscription: the designers were experimenting with style and proportions.

UCLA Bruins Logo

The university sponsors 25 teams in total: water polo, volleyball, tennis, football, golf, basketball, baseball, and other sports. They carry the nickname Bruins and use Joe Bruin as a bear mascot. Part of their story is graphic symbols that share a common bearish theme. But verbal signs have always been the main ones. The branding guide states that the first sports lettering logo appeared in the 1920s, and the modern version was created in 2017.

1964 – 1978

Since the mid-1960s, the team was represented by a badge with “UCLA,” where only the first letter was capitalized. The retro symbol stood out with its cursive handwritten script. A long line stretched from the lowercase “a” to the left, which underlined the word. The color palette also attracted attention: the designers made the main part of the logo light blue and drew a thin yellow line around the edges.

1978 – 1991

After completion, the UCLA Bruins sports emblem became even: the designers raised the letters, removing the slope to the right. They also flattened the inscription a bit, making the vertical lines look wider than in the first version of the logo. The underscore is gone, replaced by a little hook at the end of the “a.” The colors were mirrored, with the yellow word “Ucla” set against a light blue background. Moreover, this background approximately repeated the outlines of the letters in shape but was shifted to the left. This design created a three-dimensional effect.

1991 – 1996

The 1991 version was conventionally divided into two parts: a blue rectangle with the yellow abbreviation “UCLA” inside and the blue word “BRUINS” underlined by a horizontal stripe of the same color. The logo had a vertical configuration; that is, the elements were located one below the other. The text used a contrast serif typeface similar to Eurotypo Bodoni Condensed by Eurotypo. All letters were capitalized.

1996 – 2017

In 1996, the University of California, Los Angeles changed its sports emblem. The font remains the same as before in the modernized version, but the letters have become wider. The bar from “a” has been enlarged to accommodate the yellow word “BRUINS.” The logo creators used a typeface with rectangular serifs to nickname the teams and arranged the symbols in size from large to small.

2017 – today

The current logo was adopted in 2017 and dated back to an early era in UCLA Bruins’ history. The designers removed the elongated “a” part along with the “BRUINS” lettering and removed the black shadows and the thin yellow stroke. The rest of the words “Ucla” were dark blue and slightly transformed. Now the glyphs are balanced in thickness, and their curves look more elegant than before.

Font and Colors

The words on the seal of the university are written in two different fonts. For the motto, the designers chose a bold grotesque, and for the name of the educational institution – a typeface with short serifs. The Bruins’ distinctive mark looks very different: it has always used a handwritten coherent font. In recent years, it has become almost calligraphic. As for the campus logo, it features bold italic sans serif. Keith Bright, who designed the typography, was inspired by the Bauhaus style. He slanted the letters so that there were dynamics in the lettering.

All University of California, Los Angeles symbols, including wordmarks and printing, share one common color called UCLA Blue (# 2774AE). The branding guide also allows black and white versions to be used depending on the background. Sports emblem and seal may contain orange Westwood Gold shade (# F2A900).

UCLA color codes