Wikipedia Logo PNG
“Everything you want to know about the world can be found in the pages of an online encyclopedia,” says the Wikipedia logo. Our environment is multifaceted, and the site is interested in everything from herbs to technical innovations. The emblem promises accurate and expert information.
Wikipedia: Brand overview
| Founded: | 15 January 2001 |
| Founder: | Wikimedia Foundation |
| Headquarters: |
California, U.S. |
| Website: | en.wikipedia.org |
Meaning and History
The debut logo for Wikipedia appeared in 2001. It was a round ball (an improvised globe) made up of many inscriptions. User Bjornism created it for the Nupedia logo contest. During the beta testing phase of the service, the US flag emblem was also used. Jimbo Wales suggested it.
Starting from November 2001, the virtual encyclopedia readers began to offer their versions of the logo actively. As a result, the administration has compiled a shortlist, including 24 favorite options. The last one by The Cunctator won.
During 2003, several more logo modifications appeared, which are still relevant today. After another emblem contest held in the summer, the version from Paul Stansifer (nickname Paullusmagnus) won. The user suggested a color logo formed from puzzles that were not fully assembled. In the fall of the same year, it was improved by David Friedland (user Nohat). He replaced fragments of texts with letters from the alphabet of different peoples of the world.
In 2010, another redesign took place by Philip Metschan. Its version was also tweaked to match its predecessor in style. But at the same time, the spelling of the word “Wikipedia” and the phrase “The Free Encyclopedia” were changed.
What is Wikipedia?
Wikipedia is a public, non-commercial online encyclopedia created in 2001 as an offshoot of Nupedia. It contains millions of articles written by the joint efforts of all users. Volunteers monitor the contents of the online directory. Their task is not only to replenish the site with content but also to combat the spread of misinformation.
2001
The debut emblem is a stylized globe consisting of inscriptions. The book extracts are arranged line by line and are simply taken out of context. They do not carry any information, rather they serve as design elements. In addition, the words are a reflection of the subject of Wikipedia – “piggy bank” of information about everything in the world. The logo also has two parallel thin black lines. They are placed on opposite sides at the same distance from the edges and center of the circle.
2001 – 2003
In 2001, another version of the emblem was introduced – in the form of a flattened ball. It was also full of inscriptions (more precisely, meaningless sentences). But unlike the previous version, this one has a thin edging line that runs along the entire perimeter. Also, two text clarifications appeared at the bottom: the word “Wikipedia” and the phrase “The Free Encyclopedia”. They support the monochrome style of the graphic because they are in black on a white background.
2003 – today
In 2003, the puzzle logo was approved. Small fragments depict letters from the languages of various peoples of the world. Moreover, the globe consists of them, not fully assembled. This means the infinity of the process and the inexhaustibility of information. Thanks to the letters, it became clear that the globe is slightly tilted – as it should, based on its natural axis.
2010 – today
Seven years later, a revised logo appeared. In fact, this is the previous version, supplemented at the bottom by two-line inscriptions – “Wikipedia” and “The Free Encyclopedia”. The content of the puzzles has remained almost the same. Only the shape of the signs changed: they were made elongated.
Font and Colors
The emblem’s direct symbolism is the desire to cover the entire planet with knowledge on versatile topics. And the missing puzzle pieces represent the incompleteness of the process, which is still ahead since the world of information is immense. Fragments of the mosaic with different letters indicate the multilingualism of the site.
The actual logo looks like an unfinished globe with thin borders between elements that give it a smooth shape. In the previous version, the wrong glyphs were used, then replaced with the correct ones. Under the globe, it says “Wikipedia” with two enlarged letters (the first and the last). The phrase “The Free Encyclopedia” is in italics.
The current version of the text is a combination of lowercase and uppercase sans serif characters. The logo used to include the Hoefler Text typeface, but in 2010 it was replaced by Linux Libertine. The corporate palette is white, black, and shades of gray. There is also a 2003 color logo with blue, red, yellow, and green puzzles.
Wikipedias color codes
| Dark Charcoal | Hex color: | #3d393a |
|---|---|---|
| RGB: | 61 57 58 | |
| CMYK: | 0 7 5 76 | |
| Pantone: | PMS Black 7 C |
| Dim Gray | Hex color: | #6b6b6b |
|---|---|---|
| RGB: | 107 107 107 | |
| CMYK: | 0 0 0 58 | |
| Pantone: | PMS 424 C |
| Dark Gray | Hex color: | #acabad |
|---|---|---|
| RGB: | 172 171 173 | |
| CMYK: | 1 1 0 32 | |
| Pantone: | PMS Cool Gray 6 C |
| White Smoke | Hex color: | #f8f8f8 |
|---|---|---|
| RGB: | 248 248 248 | |
| CMYK: | 0 0 0 3 | |
| Pantone: | PMS 663 C |
| Anti-Flash White | Hex color: | #eeeeef |
|---|---|---|
| RGB: | 238 238 239 | |
| CMYK: | 0 0 0 6 | |
| Pantone: | PMS 663 C |
What are the symbols on the Wikipedia logo?
The Wikipedia logo features graphemes from different languages. In particular, the globe depicts characters from the Thai, Korean, Arabic, Ethiopian, Japanese, Latin, Tibetan, Chinese, Greek, Georgian, Bengali, Cambodian, and Armenian writing systems and elements of the Tamil, Hebrew, and Cyrillic alphabets.
Where did the Wikipedia logo come from?
The main inscription for the Wikipedia logo was developed by a user hiding under the nickname The Cunctator. He presented it in a competition in 2001. Two years later, another competition was held for the best design of a graphic emblem. According to the voting results, the globe puzzle created by Paul Stansifer won. A little later, it was modified by David Friedland.
How many Indian languages are there in the Wikipedia logo?
The official Wikipedia logo features graphemes from the following writing systems of India: Kannada, Tamil, Devanagari, and Bengali.
