What Is the Carrefour Logo?
The Carrefour logo is a red arrow pointing left and a blue arrow pointing right, with a white letter C hidden in the space between them. It belongs to the Carrefour Group, the French retailer that opened France's first hypermarket in 1963 and grew from a supermarket business founded in Annecy in 1959.
The arrows usually appear beside the name Carrefour, and store formats such as Carrefour Market and Carrefour City carry the same symbol with their own names. The arrows with the hidden C are available as the Carrefour logo SVG.
Carrefour Logo Facts
| Designer | Étienne Thil and Jacques Daniel |
| Introduced | 1966 |
| Symbol | Two arrows around a hidden letter C |
| Logo type | Lettermark: the C of Carrefour in negative space |
| Earlier mark | A red circle with two white arrows pointing at the Carrefour name, used from 1960 |
| Owner | Carrefour SA |
What the Carrefour Logo Means
Carrefour is the French word for crossroads. The first Carrefour supermarket, opened in June 1960, stood at the crossroads of Avenue Parmelan and Avenue André Theuriet in Annecy, where five streets and roads met. Carrefour says that junction gave the business its name. Two arrows meeting from opposite sides fit that idea.
The C is the logo's trick. It is formed by the white space between the arrows rather than drawn as a letter, so many shoppers see two arrows and never notice it. The red, white and blue are the colours of the French flag, and French press accounts describe the red arrow, pointing left, as the past and the blue arrow, pointing right, as the future.
Carrefour Logo History
Carrefour's history began in 1959, after a meeting between Marcel Fournier, who owned a novelty shop in Annecy, and the Badin-Defforey family, a food wholesaler in Lagnieu. They first tested self-service in a 200 square metre shop, then opened an 850 square metre supermarket in Annecy in June 1960. On 15 June 1963 Carrefour opened France's first hypermarket, in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois near Paris.
The early logo, used from 1960, was a red circle with two white arrows converging on the black Carrefour name.
The mark used since was created in 1966 for the opening of the Vénissieux hypermarket near Lyon. It was drawn by Étienne Thil, Carrefour's marketing director, and the typographer Jacques Daniel. The first version placed the C in the middle of a diamond, red on the left and blue on the right, with black lines above and below. The black lines soon disappeared, which left the C less obvious and almost subliminal.
In 2009, the year of the company's 50th anniversary, Carrefour redrew the logo. The arrows and the hidden C kept their 1966 shape, while the colours and the lettering of the name changed.
The Hidden C
The C is an optical illusion: the eye fills in a shape that is only suggested. The two arrows are the only things drawn; the letter exists only as their shared edge. When the black lines of 1966 were removed, nothing was left to frame the letter, and from then on the logo relied entirely on the gap.
For more brands like Carrefour, browse our retail logos.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a hidden letter in the Carrefour logo?
Yes. The white space between the red and blue arrows forms the letter C, for Carrefour.
What does Carrefour mean?
It is French for crossroads. The first Carrefour supermarket stood at a crossroads in Annecy.
Who designed the Carrefour logo?
Marketing director Étienne Thil and typographer Jacques Daniel created it in 1966 for the Vénissieux hypermarket.
Why is the Carrefour logo red and blue?
Together with the white C, the red and blue make up the colours of the French flag.