Current General Motors logo

Brand at a glance

General Motors identity snapshot

Archive begins
1938
Industry
Automotive
Current identity
Introduced 2021
Documented eras
3 logo periods
Logo history

General Motors

Follow GM from formal early nameplates and the familiar blue square to the lowercase electric-mobility mark introduced in 2021.

The lineage

General Motors through the years

1938—1964

A formal nameplate represents the corporation

Early framed lettering emphasized the scale and authority of the parent company behind many vehicle brands.

Official source: GM Heritage Archive

1964—2021

The blue square makes GM universal shorthand

White initials and an underline inside a rigid blue field created a durable corporate badge.

Official source: GM Heritage Archive

2021—present

Lowercase initials signal an electric future

Rounded forms, a gradient, and the underlined m support GM’s shift toward electric vehicles and mobility.

Official source: GM official logo gallery

The story behind the changes

How the identity evolved

A corporate name unites many vehicle brands

General Motors was created in 1908 as a holding company for an expanding collection of automakers. Its corporate identity had a different job from a vehicle badge: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, and other divisions spoke directly to buyers, while the GM mark represented the organization behind them.

Early nameplates emphasize institutional authority

Historical marks spelled out General Motors in formal lettering and framed compositions. They communicated scale and permanence rather than the personality of any one model. As the company became one of the world’s largest manufacturers, its initials gained enough recognition to stand alone.

The blue square becomes the enduring corporate shorthand

For decades, white uppercase GM letters sat inside a blue square with an underline beneath them. The compact badge worked on documents, buildings, components, and corporate advertising. Its rigid geometry expressed engineering order and distinguished the parent company from its many consumer marques.

The 2021 identity changes case and tone

GM’s new mark placed lowercase letters inside a rounded outline and underlined only the m. A blue gradient suggested clean sky and electric energy. The company connected the redesign to its vision of zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion, making the identity part of a broader push toward electric vehicles and mobility.

A parent-company logo points to a shared future

The rounded lowercase mark is intentionally friendlier than the old corporate block. It also differs from the badges of Ford and other vehicle brands because GM is communicating an ecosystem rather than a single line of cars. The lineage shows initials moving from formal authority to a lighter digital voice while continuing to unify many distinct automotive identities.