What Is the Renault Logo?
The Renault logo is a diamond, known in French as the losange, drawn since 2021 as two interlocking flat outlines. It belongs to Renault, the French car maker founded in 1898 by Louis Renault and his brothers Marcel and Fernand. Renault dates its start to 24 December 1898, when a small home-built car climbed the rue Lepic in Montmartre, Paris, and its driver came back down with twelve firm orders.
The diamond has been Renault's emblem since 1925, and the 2021 version is its ninth. The diamond is available as the Renault logo SVG.
Renault Logo Facts
| Introduced | Diamond 1925; current flat version unveiled January 2021 |
| Symbol | A diamond (losange) |
| Logo type | Combination mark: the diamond and the RENAULT name |
| Earlier mark | Two entwined Rs in an Art Nouveau medallion, from 1900 |
| Owner | Renault Group |
What the Renault Logo Means
The diamond began as a practical shape. Renault's first front-end badge, in 1923, was round, partly because the horn sat behind it. When the bonnets of the 1920s became angular, a diamond fitted their pointed noses better than a circle, and Louis Renault settled on it.
The 2021 redesign gave the shape a new reading. Renault Design Director Gilles Vidal described the two intertwined lozenges as suggesting symbiosis, a cycle and continuous movement. Drawn flat, without shading or colour, the mark is meant to work on screens and in animations as well as on a grille.
Renault Logo History
Renault's first logo, in 1900, showed the founders' initials as two entwined Rs in an Art Nouveau medallion, used mainly on documents rather than cars. In 1906 it was replaced by a picture of the Renault that won the first French Grand Prix, set inside a gear wheel.
In 1923 a round grille with the Renault name in the centre became the first logo on the front of the cars. The diamond appeared alongside it in 1924 on the 40 CV Type NM, an executive tourer, and was adopted for good in 1925.
In 1972 Renault made the diamond wider and cleaner and dropped the name from it. The op art painter Victor Vasarely and his son Yvaral designed a version built from parallel lines, and the Renault 5 was the first car to wear it. A new diamond followed in 1992.
From 2004 the diamond sat inside a yellow square. In April 2015 Renault took it out of the yellow box and made it larger and more vertical on the grilles of models such as the Clio, Captur and Espace. The ninth version was presented in January 2021 with Renault's Renaulution strategic plan, first on the grille of the Renault 5 Prototype, and Renault said its whole range would carry it by 2024.
Renault and Vasarely
The 1972 diamond came out of Renault's Art and Industry policy, set up in 1967. Vasarely's parallel lines turned the badge into a piece of op art, and the 2021 redesign brought line drawing back to the diamond, which Renault had used to make the logo iconic in 1946, 1959 and 1972.
For more brands like Renault, browse our car logos.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the Renault logo a diamond?
The diamond fitted the angular bonnets of the 1920s. It first appeared in 1924 on the 40 CV and became Renault's emblem in 1925.
Who designed the Renault logo?
The 1972 diamond was designed by the op art painter Victor Vasarely with his son Yvaral.
When did Renault change its logo?
Most recently in January 2021, when a flat ninth version replaced the diamond created in 1992 and reworked in 2015.
What does the Renault logo mean?
According to Gilles Vidal, the two intertwined lozenges suggest symbiosis, a cycle and continuous movement.