What Is the LinkedIn Logo?
The LinkedIn logo is the word Linked followed by the letters "in" set inside a rounded square, all in LinkedIn blue. The square on its own, which LinkedIn calls the [in] Logo, is the mark the company supplies for rows of social media icons. LinkedIn is the professional networking service founded in Mountain View, California, in December 2002 and launched on 5 May 2003; Microsoft has owned it since December 2016.
The [in] square is available as the LinkedIn logo SVG.
LinkedIn Logo Facts
| Introduced | Single-colour version, June 2019 |
| Symbol | The lowercase letters "in" in a rounded square |
| Logo type | Lettermark: the [in] square; the full logo adds the word Linked |
| Earlier mark | A three-colour version of the same name-and-square logo, used until 2019 |
| Owner | LinkedIn, a Microsoft subsidiary |
What the LinkedIn Logo Means
The logo splits the company name into two parts and puts the second part in a box. That box, the [in] Logo, is treated by LinkedIn as a mark in its own right: the company writes it with square brackets and asks others not to build wordplay on it, giving "[in]vesting" as an example of what to avoid.
LinkedIn's brand rules allow the [in] Logo in three colours only, blue, black and white, and name blue on a plain white background as the preferred version. The shape and colour may not be altered.
When LinkedIn refreshed its brand in 2019, it took its new core shapes, a circle and a rectangle, from the letter i in its own name. The wider identity grows out of the wordmark itself. LinkedIn said the aim was to make the brand feel warmer and more human, with illustrations of people meeting in everyday moments.
LinkedIn Logo History
Reid Hoffman and his co-founders started LinkedIn in December 2002, and the site opened to members on 5 May 2003. Before 2019 the logo combined three colours. Microsoft agreed to buy LinkedIn in June 2016 and completed the purchase on 8 December 2016.
In June 2019 LinkedIn unveiled the result of a two-year brand project code-named Project Otis, carried out with the agency Wolff Olins. Melissa Selcher, LinkedIn's vice president of brand marketing, introduced it. The logo dropped to a single colour, LinkedIn blue, so that the name reads as one word rather than a word and a badge. The refresh also brought a custom typeface called Community, with rounded letterforms and touches of handwriting, and a warmer colour palette in which blue sits beside other colours instead of standing alone.
LinkedIn Among Social Media Icons
Most social media icons are pictures: a camera for Instagram (compare the Instagram logo) and a musical note for TikTok (see the TikTok logo). LinkedIn's icon is made of letters instead, taking two from its own name. For more brands like LinkedIn, browse our social media logos.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the "in" in the LinkedIn logo stand for?
It is the last two letters of the name LinkedIn. The company calls the square that holds them the [in] Logo.
What colours can the LinkedIn [in] logo be?
LinkedIn allows blue, black or white, and prefers blue on a solid white background.
When did the LinkedIn logo change?
In June 2019 LinkedIn moved the whole logo to a single blue, after a two-year brand project with Wolff Olins.
What typeface came with the 2019 LinkedIn refresh?
A custom typeface called Community, with rounded letterforms and elements of handwriting.