Citroën Logo

A gear tooth from Poland

The Citroën logo is older than the Citroën car. According to the brand’s own history, André Citroën bought a Polish patent in 1900 for a chevron-shaped gear used in milling. The teeth were cut in a V, a pattern known as herringbone or double helical. Hagerty notes that such gears ran more quietly than ordinary ones and could carry heavy loads. Citroën built a successful business making them in steel, and carmakers were among his first customers.

Then came the cars. In 1919 he launched the Type A, and with it a brand named simply after himself. For the badge, he picked the shape that had made his fortune: two chevrons, one above the other, drawn like the teeth of two meshing gear wheels. More than a century later, that is still the whole idea.

The early years were loud, in a good way. At the 1922 Paris Motor Show an aircraft wrote the brand name in the sky. Half-track Citroëns crossed the Sahara and then Africa from north to south, and in 1931 the Croisière Jaune drove from Beirut to Beijing. The money ran out faster than the ideas, though. In 1935, a year after the Traction Avant appeared, Michelin, the main creditor, was asked to put the finances in order. André Citroën died the same year.

The swan years

The first badge was a pair of blue chevrons with a yellow border inside an oval. In the 1930s Citroën briefly added an animal. A white swan glided in front of the chevrons to advertise the Moteur Flottant, the rubber-mounted floating engine, and it even appeared as a radiator mascot on some Rosalie models. The swan did not last, but the chevrons did. From 1959 to 1966 they were gold and rose above a white horizontal oval, a fairly abstract design for its time.

Two chevrons, ten revisions

Citroën has never been coy about what its emblem means. The double chevron is a technical symbol, the company says, inspired by the bevel-gear transmissions of André Citroën’s first metalworking firm. There is no hidden animal and no secret initial. It is a drawing of gear teeth. The design has been revised many times, and the brand counts the 2022 version as the tenth major revision since 1919.

The version most drivers remember is the one from 1985: two white chevrons on a red square, usually with the name in black beside it. It survived until 2009, when Citroën marked its founder’s birthday with a new signature, Creative Technology, and a new badge of rounded chrome chevrons in three dimensions with the name in red underneath. In 2016 the lines were simplified into a flatter design for better visibility, especially on screens.

On 27 September 2022 the oval came back. The new logo reinterprets the original 1919 badge: the chevrons have broader, clearer angles and sit inside a softer, vertical oval frame, with the name set below in a new wordmark built from Citroën’s own typefaces. The brand claim changed too, to Nothing Moves Us Like Citroën. It debuted at the end of that month on a concept vehicle and reached the whole range from mid-2023.

From blue and yellow to Infra-Red

Citroën’s colours have swung around as much as its badge. The first oval was blue with yellow trim. Red took over in 1985 and stayed for a generation, first behind the white chevrons and then in the lettering under the 2009 chrome badge. The 2022 identity starts from white and cool grey and adds two accents: Monte Carlo Blue, a shade Citroën promised to bring back to its cars, and a bright Infra-Red that replaces the old red.

The cars that wore the chevrons

Citroën likes to say it has built more than 300 models. A few of them changed what people expected a car to be.

Landmark Citroëns, decade by decade

• 1919: Type A. The first Citroën, and the car that launched the double chevron.
• 1934: Traction Avant. Presented as the Type 7A, the front-wheel-drive saloon that arrived just before the company’s financial crisis.
• 1948: 2CV. Unveiled at the Paris Motor Show. By 27 July 1990 more than five million had been built.
• 1955: DS. Presented, in Citroën’s words, as a car straight out of science fiction.
• 1970: SM. A grand tourer born from a 1968 agreement with Maserati.
• 2020: Ami. An ultra-compact electric vehicle that Citroën calls a nonconformist mobility object.

Since 2021 Citroën has been one of the brands of Stellantis, the group that also includes its long-time French partner Peugeot, plus Opel, Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Jeep. At home its oldest rival is Renault. For more on how badges like the chevrons are drawn, see how car logos are designed.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Citroën logo mean?

The two chevrons represent the teeth of the chevron-shaped gears that André Citroën manufactured before he built cars. Citroën describes the double chevron as a technical symbol inspired by the bevel-gear transmissions of his first metalworking company.

Why did Citroën change its logo in 2022?

Citroën said it wanted to embrace its roots as it moved into electric mobility. The 2022 logo reinterprets the original 1919 oval with broader chevrons and a softer vertical frame, and it came with a new brand claim, Nothing Moves Us Like Citroën.

How many Citroën logos have there been?

Citroën counts the 2022 design as the tenth major revision of its logo since 1919. Every one of them has kept the double chevron.

Was there ever a swan on the Citroën badge?

Yes. In the 1930s a white swan appeared in front of the chevrons to promote the Moteur Flottant, Citroën’s rubber-mounted floating engine, and it was used as a radiator mascot on some Rosalie models.

Gear teeth, swans and a red square: the chevron record

Founded

1919

Founder

André Citroën

Country

France

Headquarters

Poissy, France

Parent company

Stellantis

Current emblem

Two chevrons inside a vertical oval, a reinterpretation of the 1919 badge introduced in September 2022

Known for

The double chevron, the 2CV and the DS

Website

Official website ↗

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