What Is the UPS Logo?
The UPS logo is a brown shield with the gold letters UPS and a curved gold swoosh above them. This version arrived in 2003, when it replaced Paul Rand's 1961 shield with a string-tied parcel on top. It belongs to UPS (United Parcel Service), the parcel delivery company that James Casey and Claude Ryan founded in Seattle on 28 August 1907 as the American Messenger Company.
A shield has been the company's badge since 1916, and it rides on the company's brown delivery vehicles and uniforms. The shield is available as the UPS logo SVG.
UPS Logo Facts
| Designer | FutureBrand |
| Introduced | 2003 |
| Symbol | A shield with a curved swoosh |
| Logo type | Emblem: the letters inside a shield |
| Earlier mark | Paul Rand's 1961 shield with a bow-tied parcel |
| Owner | United Parcel Service |
What the UPS Logo Means
Rand wanted the logo to say plainly what UPS did. He chose a shield, an old heraldic form, so the playful parcel would sit on a solid base. Brown and gold tie the logo to the vehicles.
The brown is known as Pullman brown. Casey first wanted yellow, but colleague Charlie Soderstrom argued that yellow would be hard to keep clean. Pullman railway carriages were brown for that reason.
The 2003 swoosh replaced the parcel that had sat on the shield for over 40 years. UPS felt a parcel no longer described a company that also offered supply chain and financial services, so it chose a more abstract curve.
UPS Logo History
The business changed its name twice before it settled. It became Merchants Parcel Delivery after a 1913 merger, and United Parcel Service in 1919, when it first expanded beyond Seattle to Oakland, California.
| Year | What changed |
|---|---|
| 1916 | A shield with a parcel labelled "Safe Swift Sure", carried by a flying eagle |
| 1937 | The eagle is dropped |
| 1961 | Paul Rand's shield, topped by a parcel tied with a bow |
| 2003 | FutureBrand redraws the shield and retires the parcel |
In the early 1960s UPS asked five professional designers and several of its own staff for proposals. Paul Rand won with a shield, which he called an escutcheon. The string worried some managers, since UPS discouraged string on packages, but Rand argued it was the only way to make a rectangle read as a parcel.
When he showed his sketch at home, his seven-year-old daughter called it a present, which he took as proof the idea worked. The shield went on vans in gold against brown or black.
The 2003 shield had gradients and a three-dimensional look. Many critics disliked the change, and some were sad to lose Rand's parcel.
The Brown Behind the Shield
UPS leaned on its colour in its 2000s advertising slogan "What can Brown do for you?", using the van colour as a nickname for the whole company.
For more brands like UPS, browse our retail logos.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who designed the old UPS logo with the parcel?
Paul Rand, who designed the 1961 shield with a bow-tied parcel on top.
Why did UPS remove the parcel from its logo?
In 2003 UPS felt the parcel no longer matched a business that had grown into supply chain and financial services.
Why is UPS brown?
Founder James Casey was persuaded that yellow would be hard to keep clean. So the company chose Pullman brown, the colour of Pullman railway carriages.
What did UPS stand for at first?
Nothing yet: the company began in 1907 as the American Messenger Company and only became United Parcel Service in 1919.