Microsoft Logo

About Microsoft

Microsoft is widely known as an American multinational technology corporation originating from Redmond, United States, founded in 1975. Within the technology & software landscape, its core activities span consumer electronics industry, technology industry and International Standard Industrial Classification. The organization was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Notable brands and divisions connected to Microsoft include Minecraft, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Windows. Official brand communications and services are published at microsoft.com.

The Microsoft Logo: Design and Meaning

Structurally, the Microsoft logo is proportioned on a wide horizontal wordmark layout (1024×218 pixels, 4.70:1 aspect ratio). Colorimetric analysis of the artwork shows a 5-color palette led by gray (#767676, RGB 118, 118, 118 at 40% visual coverage), paired with gold (#FFBA00, 15%), cyan (#00A4EF, 15%), lime (#7FBA00, 15%) and dark orange (#F35122, 15%).

The visual history of Microsoft spans 4 documented design eras beginning in 1981, including earlier emblems from 1981–1982, 1982–1987 and 1987–2012. The current iteration has represented the brand since 2012. For design, editorial and production workflows, this page provides 4 verified asset variants (transparent, on white background, black and white). The master raster file is a 1024×218 px transparent PNG (17 KB) with an isolated alpha channel, accompanied by a lightweight 3 KB scalable SVG vector for infinite-resolution print, signage and UI scaling, plus dedicated black and white one-color versions for dark backgrounds, embossing and screen printing.