The Logo of X is Unconventional. It emerged during a complex period for the world, but it is associated with a light theme, as social networking is a great way to gather information, learn new things, and find like-minded people. It also appears simple. At the same time, this unpretentious symbol hides many secrets about the owner of the popular service, as it bears the imprint of the space industry and resonates with SpaceX.
X began as Twitter in February 2006 inside Odeo, a San Francisco podcasting company weakened after Apple entered podcast distribution. During an internal brainstorming session, Jack Dorsey proposed an SMS-style service for short status updates. Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and Noah Glass supported the idea, and Glass is credited with the working name Twttr. On March 21, 2006, Dorsey sent the first message: “just setting up my twttr.” The public launch followed on July 15, 2006.
The service’s first major break came at South by Southwest Interactive in March 2007, where live Twitter feeds appeared on large screens. Daily activity rose from 20,000 to 60,000 tweets in three days. Twitter then became a separate company, with Dorsey as CEO. In October 2008, the board replaced him with Williams, who was later succeeded by Dick Costolo in 2010.
During the 2010s, Twitter became a platform for politics, live events, and public movements. In 2009, it introduced blue-check verification after problems with fake celebrity and official accounts. The company went public in November 2013, raising $1.8 billion under the TWTR ticker, but struggled to turn a profit as Meta’s Facebook and Instagram competed for users and advertising.
In April 2022, Elon Musk disclosed a 9.1 percent stake, then agreed to buy Twitter for $44 billion. After a legal fight, he closed the deal on October 27, 2022, dismissed top executives, and cut much of the staff. In July 2023, Twitter became X, and twitter.com moved to x.com in May 2024. In March 2025, X Corp. was absorbed by xAI, and in February 2026 xAI and X came under SpaceX control.
Meaning and History
This microblog has a simple past and a complex future. Previously, Twitter was a place for “chirping,” publishing short notes no more than 140 characters long, fitting its concept perfectly. Therefore, its visual identity was tied to a tiny bird. However, in 2022, the social network entered an era of reformatting. It started with a name, adopting the mysterious label X.
A year later, the owner introduced another logo based on the web resource’s new name. Then the concept changed, as the need for the words “tweets” (miniature posts) and “tweeting” (to inform about something in short form) disappeared. In the future, more important steps will follow, which may span years, as the microblog will ultimately become a place to concentrate everything from banking operations to interactions with the government.
What is X?
X is the former Twitter, which Elon Musk bought in 2022 and renamed in 2023. The social network creators with microblogs are Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Noah Glass, and Biz Stone, who launched it in 2006. After transitioning to a new owner, the resource began to change gradually, as he intends to transform it into an “app for everything,” including communication, purchasing goods and tickets, transactions through personal wallets, calling taxis, paying utility bills, administrative services, and much more.
2006
The social network was originally planned to be named Twttr, so the unusual word was featured in the debut logo. Biz Stone (creator of the first emblem) designed a version with a lowercase inscription in green: the letter “w” was painted in a light shade, while the rest were in a dark one. The font was unique, more hand-drawn than typeset, with bubbly lowercase glyphs. For added effect, the designer covered them with dewdrops to make the text appear lively and attractive. This version served as a prototype for subsequent signs.
2006 – 2010
The logo of that time was the blue word “twitter,” set in an original font by Linda Gavin. These were lowercase letters without serifs, soft contours, smooth curves, and unfinished lines. Moreover, they lacked angles. The “t” was missing the left part of the crossbar, the “w” looked like an inverted capital “E,” and the “r” was hook-shaped.
During this period, the service purchased an image of a bluebird, which later appeared on its emblem. The social network acquired the drawing for $15 on iStock from illustrator Simon Oxley. The tiny bird was then named Larry in honor of Larry Bird, the American basketball player, and was used on the site as an icon because iStock images could not be used in logos.
So, Biz Stone took the bird as a prototype and created another image based on it, with a sharp tail, a curved beak, wings, and a white eye. The idea was implemented by the artist Philip Pascuzzo. Then two more options were proposed: a minimalistic one and a cartoonish one.
2010 – 2012
This logo contained the word “twitter” in its usual design. It had bubbly letters with rounded ends. To the right of the inscription was the new mascot of the social network, a miniature bluebird, the final version of which Philip Pascuzzo and Douglas Bowman designed. A long crest stuck out on its crown, adding an air of casualness to the emblem. The monochrome silhouette was turned to the right, symbolizing “tweets” or “chirping,” the user’s short messages.
2012 – 2023
The new emblem was worked on by Martin Grasser, a former Art Center College of Design graduate and then an employee of the West design studio. He refined the image of the bird:
- Turned it upwards.
- Removed the crest.
- Shortened the tail.
- Changed the position of the feathers on the wings.
But while the young artist achieved the desired result, he drew about a thousand sketches, of which only twenty-four were approved. He presented these to Jack Dorsey, who chose the version known worldwide. Such meticulousness was necessary because the microblog owners abandoned the name in the emblem and wanted to leave only the bird. It was aimed upward, symbolizing boundless possibilities, growth, and freedom.
2023 – today
After the social network transitioned to Elon Musk, it changed its name from Twitter to X, and the change was instantly reflected in the logo. The cute bird flew away, taking the concept of “chirping” and “tweets.” Its place was taken by a single letter, usually hiding secret information. It’s like a mark of mystery, as no one knows what the new owner of the web resource will do next. After all, he hinted that this emblem is temporary; other versions will follow. One leg of the glyph is thin, and the other is wide and resembles a parallelogram.
Font and Colors
The logos used a unique typeface. These were bubbly lowercase letters, rounded at the ends. They had smooth curves and soft contours. Later, the symbol “X” appeared in a strict, geometric, business-like style, with many angles. The color scheme includes several shades of blue and black on a white background.






