Google Changes Its “G” Logo Colours In First Major Change

For the first time in nearly ten years, Google has changed its vibrant “G” Logo. According to 9to5Google, a new logo that combines the hues red, yellow, green, and blue into a gradient has been added to the Google app for iOS and Pixel phones.

As of this writing, the branding for the Google app on both Android and iOS devices has changed, but there are still a few places that still use the classic colour block look, such as browser favicons, and it is not included in Google’s official collection of images for press; the classic version is still used as the entry for the Google app logo. Over the past few days, astute Google users may have noticed that the company’s capital G logo now occasionally features a gradient softening the transitions between the four solid-colour sections.

Google made a major upgrade to its logo (the word “Google”) on September 1, 2015, by switching to a sans-serif font, more contemporary typeface called Product Sans. This was the last significant alteration. This included changing the “G” graphic from the lowercase white “g” on a blue backdrop to the circular design that has been in use for the last ten years. Google also unveiled a new “G” logo at the time, combining all of the company’s colours.

The icon is currently being updated by Google to remove the four solid colour portions. Rather, green leaks into blue, yellow into yellow, and red into yellow. It appears more colourful and lively. While AI Mode in Search employs a similar shortcut, this upgrade feels consistent with the Gemini gradient.

The newly blended logo aligns with the gradient used for the Gemini logo’s design, despite the fact that this modification may be a little more subtle.

It seems that Google has solely changed their logo for iOS and Pixel phones thus far. On the web and other Android devices, the letter “G” still has clear colour borders. A request for comment from The Verge was not immediately answered by Google.

As of yesterday’s update, the Google Search app for iOS is already using this new icon. The symbol was released for Android on Monday along with Google app 16.18 (beta). It’s a minor adjustment that you might not notice right away, particularly if your homescreen is where you see it most frequently. As a small browser favicon, it will be even less obvious.

Other Google smartphone app logos don’t seem to have embraced the new gradient style. However, it’s worth noting that the star symbol in Google’s Gemini AI assistant’s branding has a tiny gradient. Perhaps AI is setting the standard at Google for both technical and aesthetic decisions? Or is this a test run to see how people respond before a complete brand makeover?

While it’s unclear if any other product logos are changing, Google doesn’t seem to be updating its primary six-letter logo today. Theoretically, any of the company’s four-color logos, such as Maps or Chrome, may easily begin to leak into their respective parts.

Regardless of the cause, the most surprising thing about Google’s possible logo update is that it appears to be happening quietly. There was a comprehensive campaign outlining every aspect of the company’s most recent branding update, which took place in 2015. For a company the size of Google, branding is crucial. Before going online, even seemingly little modifications would undergo numerous committee reviews, iterations, and testing. It’s particularly odd that, if this is a permanent shift, it’s occurring in a piecemeal manner because any marketing executive knows that consistency is crucial. 

To find out if gradients will be the hottest design trend for all Google goods in 2025, the Engadget team have contacted the firm.