Wikipedia Logo
Wikipedia is a hugely popular and free user-generated Internet encyclopedia. It consists of more than 26 million articles in 286 different languages, covering almost every aspect of world knowledge. These articles are read by an estimated 365 million readers across the globe.
Owned and operated by Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization, it was co-founded by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger in January 2001.
DESIGN ELEMENTS, HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF WIKIPEDIA LOGO
Shape of the Wikipedia Logo
The Wikipedia logo comprises of an unfinished globe made up of several jigsaw pieces; a few of which are missing at the top. On every jigsaw piece, a unique glyph is inscribed. The wordmark and the slogan (The Free Encyclopedia) have been placed just below the emblem.
The earliest version of the Wikipedia logo was designed by a 21-year-old Wikipedia editor named Paul Stansifer, whose entry was selected to win a design competition run by the encyclopedia in 2003. His work was, however, later modified and improved by David Friedland, a software developer.
The current version of the Wikipedia logo was unveiled in May 2010. It features a 3D rendering of the puzzle globe with some characters corrected for proper scaling. It is widely regarded as one of the most popular and instantly recognizable logos on the internet.
Colors of the Wikipedia Logo
The Wikipedia logo uses black, gray and white colors. All these colors stand for strength, excellence, truth and dominance.
Font of the Wikipedia Logo
The Wikipedia logo features the open-source Linux Libertine typeface.