Netflix
Technology • Gretel
Reversed logo 
YouTube
World's largest video sharing platform owned by Google, instantly recognizable by its red play button icon and bold wordmark.
YouTube’s red play button has become one of the most universally recognized symbols in digital media. The current logo, refined by Google in 2017, pairs a vibrant crimson rounded rectangle with clean black typography, creating an identity that works seamlessly across billions of devices. The play button serves as both icon and brand essence—an invitation to watch, learn, create, and share.
Logo History
YouTube launched in 2005 with a red and white logo featuring a television set within the wordmark’s counter space, reflecting its “Broadcast Yourself” tagline. The design evolved through subtle refinements until 2017’s comprehensive redesign, which separated the icon from the wordmark and introduced the standalone red play button. This shift acknowledged YouTube’s expansion beyond traditional video—live streaming, shorts, music, and creator content demanded a more flexible visual system. The simplified icon proved essential for mobile apps and smart TV interfaces where space is precious.
Design Philosophy
The logo employs YouTube Sans, a custom typeface designed to balance friendliness with authority across global languages and scripts. The red play button uses rounded corners that soften the geometric form, making it approachable rather than clinical. The precise shade of red (#FF0000, pure red in RGB) ensures maximum visibility and emotional impact—red signals excitement, urgency, and the promise of compelling content. The dark charcoal typography (#212121 rather than pure black) provides contrast without harshness, maintaining readability across light and dark interfaces.
Brand Identity
YouTube’s visual system extends through color-coded product lines: YouTube Music uses red, YouTube Premium adds subtle gradients, YouTube TV incorporates the full spectrum. The play button appears as a tactile element in creator awards, from the Silver Play Button at 100,000 subscribers to the coveted Diamond and Ruby milestones. The brand’s flexibility allows creators to personalize thumbnails while the red icon maintains consistent platform recognition, balancing individual expression with institutional presence.
Cultural Impact
The YouTube play button transcends its corporate origins to symbolize internet culture itself. The icon appears in street art, political commentary, and educational materials as visual shorthand for video content. YouTube’s influence reshaped entertainment industries—musicians launch careers through the platform, advertisers shifted budgets from television, and “YouTuber” became a legitimate profession. The logo’s simplicity made it meme-friendly, appearing in countless parodies while remaining instantly identifiable even when distorted or reimagined.
Clear Space
Maintain adequate clear space around the YouTube logo to ensure visual integrity and maximum legibility. The minimum exclusion zone equals the height of the logo's cap height (represented as "x") on all sides. This protective space prevents the logo from appearing cluttered when placed near other graphic elements, text, or page edges.
x
x
x
x
Ratio: 4.6 : 1
ViewBox: 400 × 86
Logo Usage Guidelines
Preserve the integrity of the YouTube logo by avoiding unauthorized modifications. Consistent application across all touchpoints strengthens brand recognition and maintains professional standards. The examples below illustrate common misuses that compromise the logo's visual impact and brand identity.
Don't rotate
Don't skew
Don't stretch
Don't recolor
Don't add shadows
Don't crop
Don't outline
Don't place on busy backgrounds
Frequently Asked Questions
- The YouTube logo uses 3 colors: YouTube Red (#FF0000), YouTube Dark (#212121), and White (#FFFFFF). These values are used consistently across all official YouTube brand materials.
- Yes. Click the Download SVG button at the top of this page to get a production-ready vector file. SVG format scales to any size without quality loss, making it ideal for websites, presentations, and print materials.
- The YouTube logo was designed by In-house (Google) at Google in 2017. The design has become one of the most recognized marks in the Entertainment industry.
- Maintain clear space equal to the logo's cap height on all sides. Do not rotate, skew, stretch, recolor, crop, or add effects to the logo. Always use the official SVG file and ensure sufficient contrast with the background.
- A reverse logo is a white or light version designed for use on dark backgrounds. It maintains the same proportions as the primary YouTube logo while ensuring legibility on brand-colored surfaces, dark packaging, or apparel.
- The YouTube logo uses YouTube Sans. For accurate representation, always use the official vector logo rather than attempting to recreate the typography.
- Commercial use of the YouTube logo typically requires written permission from YouTube. The logo is trademarked intellectual property, so while editorial use and accurate product references are generally permitted, promotional or commercial use needs authorization. Do not alter the logo or use it to imply endorsement.
