The Hartford is an American property and casualty insurer, employee benefits provider and mutual fund company headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1810 as a fire insurance company, it operates under the brand name The Hartford and is one of the oldest continuously operating insurers in the United States.[1]
In February 2025, The Hartford launched a refreshed brand identity featuring a modernized version of its iconic stag logo. The redesign was developed by the international design firm Pentagram in collaboration with The Hartford’s creative agency of record, the Minneapolis-based independent agency Solve.[1][2]
Design and History
The stag has been The Hartford’s symbol since the 19th century. The earliest use on record of the stag logo is the 1861 policy issued to Abraham Lincoln.[1] The logo was likely inspired by the seal of the city of Hartford, which in turn borrowed from the city’s namesake in Hertford, England.[1]
The design has drawn inspiration since 1875 from “The Monarch of the Glen,” a painting completed in 1851 by Sir Edwin Landseer.[2] The 2025 redesign reflects the grandeur of that painting, showcasing the stag looking over his herd and gazing confidently into the future.[2]
The 2025 update modernizes the stag into a simplified silhouette with dimensional details, improving legibility across different scales and both digital and physical contexts. The new logo appears in black, and the design moves the stag to the front of the mark.[1] The stag also faces in the opposite direction on the 2025 logo compared to the previous version.[3]
The wordmark was shifted from all caps in the previous identity to a more approachable upper and lower case treatment.[1] The redesign was launched at the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 6, 2025, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the company’s listing.[1]
Meaning and Symbolism
The Hartford’s stag logo remains the centerpiece of the brand, symbolizing strength, confidence and resilience.[2] The Hartford stag is specifically a Royal Stag, a red deer with 12 points across its antlers (six per antler).[1]
The number 12 is highlighted in two additional logos that pair 12 circles with the letter “H” in a monogram and with the date 1810 in a new heritage mark that looks engraved.[1]
The brand color is a rich claret, an evolution of a hue seen in the previous identity and a color that has been associated with The Hartford for much of its history. A neon flash of fuchsia adds a bright contemporary accent.[1] The new core colors are black for stability, claret for the company’s heritage, and fuchsia for modernity, with white and warm-gray enhancing the design of company materials.[2]
Typography and Design
The 2025 identity includes a bespoke typeface called Trust Hartford, a customized cut of Trust originally designed by Jeremy Mickel and based on lettering on US coins. Adjustments were made to increase readability of several characters and numerals.[1]
The Pentagram team included Michael Bierut as consulting strategy partner, along with Shigeto Akiyama, Britt Cobb, Antonio Nogueira, Anna LaGrone, Sewon Bae, Brett Hilton and Ben Law.[1]
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