What Is the ExxonMobil Logo?
The ExxonMobil logo is the company name in red letters, with the two X letters joined in the middle. That double X comes from the Exxon logo that designer Raymond Loewy sketched in 1966.
ExxonMobil is the American oil and gas company formed in 1999 by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. It is based in Spring, Texas, near Houston, and descends from John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil.
At filling stations the company sells under the Exxon, Esso and Mobil brands, each with a logo of its own. The corporate name is available as the ExxonMobil logo SVG.
ExxonMobil Logo Facts
| Introduced | 1999, with the merger; the double X dates from Exxon in 1972 |
| Symbol | None; the joined X letters act as the signature |
| Logo type | Wordmark: the company name in red |
| Earlier mark | The Exxon logo, designed by Raymond Loewy |
| Owner | ExxonMobil |
What the ExxonMobil Logo Means
The joined X letters tie the merged company back to the Exxon name. Loewy put the visual weight of the Exxon logo on that double X, and the ExxonMobil name keeps it.
- The double X: the feature that makes the name recognisable at a glance.
- A link to Esso: design writers note that the two X letters echo the two S letters of the Esso name it replaced.
- The single word: Exxon and Mobil run together as one name, with no space or hyphen.
The Esso name itself was the spoken form of S.O., the initials of Standard Oil. Standard Oil of New Jersey began selling under it in 1926.
ExxonMobil Logo History
The ExxonMobil logo history starts with a naming problem in the 1960s and ends with a merger in 1999.
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1966 | Raymond Loewy sketches the Exxon name and logo |
| 1972 | Standard Oil of New Jersey officially changes its name to Exxon |
| 1999 | Exxon and Mobil merge to form ExxonMobil |
The company then known as Standard Oil of New Jersey had a problem. Its Esso trademark could not be used freely across the United States. It hired Loewy to create a new name and logo that could.
Loewy filled pages with rough pencil sketches. The Library of Congress holds one sheet with eighteen ideas, on which he marked his final choice with an "okay". Exxon became the official name in 1972, and in the United States it largely replaced Esso.
The Double X and Its Sister Brands
The corporate logo sits above three retail brands, each with its own mark.
- Exxon: the brand on its stations in the United States.
- Esso: the brand in Europe, Canada, Asia and Latin America, built on the old Standard Oil initials.
- Mobil: used alongside Esso abroad, and the sole brand for its lubricants since 2008.
ExxonMobil has also defended the double X in court. It sued FX Networks over a new FX logo that used interlocking X letters.
For more brands like ExxonMobil, browse our energy logos. For a rival oil major's mark, compare the Shell logo.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who designed the Exxon logo?
Raymond Loewy, the industrial designer, whose sketches for the name and logo are dated 1966.
Why are the two X letters joined in the ExxonMobil logo?
The double X was the centrepiece of Loewy's Exxon logo. The merged company kept it when it became ExxonMobil in 1999.
Why did Esso become Exxon?
The Esso trademark could not be used freely across the United States, so Standard Oil of New Jersey needed a new name. It became Exxon in 1972.
Is Esso the same company as ExxonMobil?
Yes. Esso is one of ExxonMobil's retail brands, used in most countries outside the United States.