Allianz SE, the Munich-based insurance and asset management group, has used an eagle as the central motif of its corporate identity since the company’s founding in 1890. The current logo, introduced in 1999, retains that eagle heritage in a highly abstracted form: three vertical lines, with the upper portion of the middle line curving to the left like the bird’s head, and the two lower lines featuring rounded tops that suggest wings. The mark appears alongside the Allianz wordmark in the company’s signature blue.
Design and History
The first Allianz logo, created in 1890, featured a heraldic shield bearing a detailed eagle with its head turned to the left and a crown above it, with the wordmark on an arched ribbon below. The eagle carried two coats of arms in its claws, representing Munich and Berlin, the company’s home cities. Those two shields disappeared from the design in 1923, when a new version was introduced based on a design by Karl Schulpig, who also experimented with using the letter “A” from the company name as a central motif. The final 1923 version dropped the wordmark entirely, and the name did not reappear in the logo until 1977.[1]
In 1977, graphic designer Hansjörg Dorschel modernized the logo, placing the eagle inside a circle and establishing blue as the corporate color, laying the foundation for today’s corporate design.[1]
The current logo was introduced in 1999. According to Allianz’s own annual report, the new design stylized the eagle even further, depicting the company’s three business areas, insurance, retirement planning and asset management, with three parallel lines. The two logos were launched in March 1999 in the company’s first international campaign.[2] The redesign was part of an effort to unify the appearance of the Allianz Group internationally.[3]
Meaning and Symbolism
The eagle has been the defining symbol of Allianz’s identity since the company’s earliest days. The 1999 redesign replaced the imperial eagle with three pillars, which symbolize the company’s key business areas: insurance, pensions and investments.[1] Allianz’s own brand guidelines describe the eagle emblem as “a symbol of trust.”[4]
Typography and Design
Allianz’s brand guidelines specify that the eagle logo must always be used alongside the Allianz name and cannot appear on its own. The preferred version of the logo uses Allianz blue, and the distance between the logo and other layout elements is generally measured by one eagle unit.[5]
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