Logos and Trademarks

Early Logos The Trademark

1955 trademark

The name Lego was first used in commerce in 1934. Lego incorporated in Denmark in 1944 but it wasn't until 1953 that the company trademarked the name.

DK: Filed 30 Oct 1953, granted 01 May 1954
DE: Filed 28 Sept 1955
UK: Filed 11 Jun 1956
US: Filed 29 Jun 1962

The trademarks were originally the property of Interlego AG, they were later transferred to Kirkbi AG and today are owned by Lego Juris. All of these are holding companies owned by the Kirk Kristiansens.
1934 Logo
1934
The first logo. It was used on correspondance, shipping labels and other printed materials, but not on toys. Starting in 1936 an ink stamp “LEGO Fabriken Billund” was used on the wooden toys.

1940 Logo
1949–1954
This logo, first introduced in 1939 or 1940, was used extensively on wooden toys, typically in the form of an applied decal, for the next 10 years.

1949 Logo
1950–1954
This logo was introduced with the first plastic toys. There was typically writing in the outer circle and examples exsist in both Danish and English.
Lego Mursten Logos
1952 Logo
1952–1953
1953 Logo
1953–1955
1953 Logo
1953–1955
These logos appeared on Lego Mursten boxes from 1952-1955 and in 1953 all 3 were used concurrently.

1954 Logo
Late 1954
The first of the oval logos. This first appeared on Lego Mursten catalogs. The company had still not standardized on color. Examples exsists in several colors, typically depending on the color of the catalog.
The System i Leg and Lego System Logos
1955 Logo
1955
This logo first appeared on the System i Leg sets. The original logo was appears to be hand drawn and is different on various boxes from early 1955.

1956 Logo
1955–1959
The classic dogbone logo from late 1955. It was the first time the logo was standardized, in terms of both design and color. It was used across all toys lines and appears widely on both plastic and wood toys.

1960 Logo
1960–1965
The first of the square logos. This and many variants were used worldwide for the next 13 years.
The Modern Logos
1965 Logo
1965–1972
A variation of the 1960 logo. Includes the color bars and was the first to include the registered trademark as part of the Lego name.

1973 Logo
1973–1998
This logo appeared in 1973, the same year that Lego began its own production and distribution in the US. It represents an attempt to standardize on a single worldwide logo and remains the most recognizable version of Lego’s brand identity.

1999 Logo
Apr 1998–present
A redesign, or in Lego's words, a “graphic tightening”, of the 1973 logo to allow for better digital (i.e. internet) reproduction.