HSBC Holdings plc, the London-headquartered banking group, uses a red and white hexagon as its corporate symbol. The mark, known as the HSBC Hexagon, is built from four red triangles arranged around a central white X, and it has served as the bank’s visual anchor since the early 1980s. The hexagon traces its roots to a house flag the bank flew from at least the 1890s, a white rectangle divided diagonally to form a red hourglass shape. That flag design was likely inspired by the Scottish flag, the cross of St Andrew, reflecting the heritage of founder Thomas Sutherland, who was born in Aberdeen. [1]
Design and History
HSBC opened for business in Hong Kong in March 1865 to help finance trade between Europe and Asia. [2] For much of its first century, the bank used two visual identifiers: the red and white house flag, and a crest that combined a bustling harbour scene from Hong Kong’s Public Seal with the UK’s royal coat of arms, including its lion and unicorn. The crest was widely used in buildings and advertising campaigns until the 1980s. [3]
By the late 1970s, HSBC had grown through acquisitions into a large group of companies with a confusing mix of names and logos. In 1979, the bank launched a major Corporate Identity Study to examine its visual identifiers and develop a stronger identity for its diverse, multilingual customer base. Graphic designer Henry Steiner, working through his firm Graphic Communications Limited, audited all the logos used by HSBC and its subsidiaries. [3] Steiner had designed HSBC’s annual reports from 1967 to 1984, and he went on to conceive the hexagon. [4]
For the new symbol, Steiner looked to the bank’s own heritage. By adding two red triangles to the sides of the original house flag design, he created the distinctive hexagon. [1] The hexagon was introduced to the group from 1983. [1] A leaflet dated February 1983, held in the HSBC Global Archives, introduced the new corporate identity to bank staff, including examples of the typography, symbols and colours to be used. [5]
In 1999, more than 300 subsidiaries were rebranded with the HSBC name and hexagon logo, ending the earlier policy that allowed member companies to keep their own names. [1] The hexagon symbol, first unveiled in 1983, was rolled out across the world as part of a major rebranding programme that had begun in 1998. [6]
In 2018, HSBC redesigned its logo. The hexagon moved to sit prominently in front of the bank’s name, and the typography was simplified to make it more contemporary and fit for multiple screens, from stadiums to mobiles. [1] The redesign also swapped the positions of the symbol and wordmark, deepened the red colour, and replaced the serif lettering with a sans-serif typeface. [7] Steiner described the update as “wasteful and confusing”. [8]
Meaning and Symbolism
The hexagon is formed from four isosceles triangles of equal size and dimension, grouped together to create a shape that can be perceived as inward and outward facing arrows pointing east and west. In this way, the shape reflects the notion of coming together and suggests interaction and communication between several parts of the world. The X at the centre also evokes aspects of the Saltire, the flag of Scotland. [8] HSBC’s official history confirms that inspiration for the design came from the St Andrew’s Cross of the Scottish flag, and that the hexagon brings to life the bank’s purpose as a global connector with a far-reaching outlook. [9]
Typography and Design
HSBC’s official brand history does not name the specific typeface used in the 2018 redesign, stating only that the typography was simplified to be more contemporary and readable across digital screens. [1] Design press coverage from 2018 noted that the bank switched from a serif to a sans-serif wordmark. [7] The Monotype foundry, which supplies fonts to financial institutions, has documented that HSBC’s old logo was based on Times New Roman and that the 2018 refresh replaced it with the sans-serif typeface Univers. [10]
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