Macy’s, the American department store chain founded in 1858, uses a visual identity built around a red five-pointed star and a lowercase sans-serif wordmark. The current logo, introduced in August 2019, is a refinement of a design that has been in place since 2004, keeping the red star as the central brand element while adjusting the typography for improved legibility and digital reproduction.
Design and History
The red star has been associated with Macy’s since the company’s earliest days. Founder Rowland Hussey Macy adopted a red star as his symbol of success, a reference to his time as a sailor, when he launched R.H. Macy & Co. in New York in 1858.[1] The star reportedly represented a tattoo Macy received as a teenager while working on a whaling ship.[2]
For much of the 20th century, the star appeared separately from the wordmark. In 2004, the red star was permanently incorporated into the logotype, appearing between a lowercase “r” and the apostrophe in “Macy’s,” formalizing what had long been an informal brand symbol.[3]
The most recent update came in August 2019. The refresh kept the red star and black lowercase sans-serif lettering but made the type bolder and increased the letter spacing.[4] The red star was also enlarged and aligned with the x-height of the wordmark.[4] The redesign was described as part of Macy’s strategic shift from traditional retail toward e-commerce.[5]
Meaning and Symbolism
The red star is the defining element of Macy’s identity. According to the company’s own historical account, Rowland Hussey Macy adopted the red star as his symbol of success, dating back to his days as a sailor.[1] The star has remained a constant across the brand’s various wordmark changes, serving as the primary recognition device even when used independently of the logotype.
Typography and Design
The 2019 wordmark uses a modified version of the typeface Evolventa, with heavier strokes and a more confident weight than the previous design.[3] The letter spacing was loosened to give the brand name more room to breathe, and the red star was repositioned to align neatly with the x-height of the lettering.[4] Design commentators noted a typographic flaw in the new mark: the stem on the letter “a” is the same height as the bowl, an absence of overshoot that is considered a type design error.[4]
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