YouTube Logo
The YouTube logo uses 3 primary colors. Its dominant color is Blood Donor (#ED1D24, closest Pantone 2035 C). YouTube operates in the Computers Electronics & Technology industry.
- Color family
- red
- Industry
- Computers Electronics & Technology
- Brand popularity
- Top 1% of indexed brands
- Website
- youtube.com
Design analysis
YouTube's logo is a combination mark pairing a distinctive icon with a custom wordmark. The icon — a white right-pointing triangle centered in a bright red rounded rectangle — abstracts the universal 'play' symbol into a branded asset that functions as both a UI affordance and a brand signature. The wordmark, set in YouTube Sans (a geometric grotesque commissioned for the 2017 redesign), uses uniform stroke weights and open apertures for screen legibility. The two elements lock up horizontally with consistent spacing, but the icon stands alone as an app avatar, favicon, and watermark. At small sizes the mark holds up exceptionally well: the play triangle reads clearly down to 16 pixels, and the red container provides a high-contrast hit area that survives compression artifacts. In the crowded video-platform category, where competitors often rely on abstract glyphs or initials, YouTube's choice to own the play button itself is a strategic masterstroke — it turns a functional control into proprietary equity.
Logo colors, measured
Colors extracted from the logo image itself (background removed), with share of the mark each color covers.
Click a chip to copy its hex code.
The palette anchors on #ED1D24, a high-chroma red that signals energy, urgency, and the 'record' state of live broadcasting — a deliberate contrast to the cool blues dominating social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn). The measured neutrals #666666 and #252323 appear in secondary UI chrome and the dark-mode wordmark, providing accessible contrast against white or dark backgrounds without diluting the red's dominance. This restraint keeps the brand instantly recognizable in a feed where color is the fastest recognition cue.
Variations & downloads
Color variants generated from the vector source — free to download for identification, editorial and research use.
Visually similar logos
Nearest neighbors in visual embedding space — marks that share shape and structure with the YouTube logo, regardless of color or industry.
Brand web palette
Colors YouTube uses across its website — the broader brand system around the logo.
About YouTube
YouTube is a popular online video-sharing platform that allows users to upload, view, and share videos. It was created by former PayPal employees Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim in February 2005. The idea behind YouTube came when the founders struggled to share videos taken at a dinner party. They realized the need for an easily accessible platform to share videos, and thus, YouTube was born. YouTube's headquarters are located in San Bruno, California, USA. The company operates on a global scale, reaching millions of users from different countries and cultures. It offers a wide range of services, including streaming videos, live streaming, video monetization for content creators, and targeted advertising for marketers. One of YouTube's defining features is its vast and diverse content. It hosts videos on various topics, such as entertainment, music, sports, news, and educational content. Additionally, YouTube has several notable subsidiaries, including YouTube Kids, a child-friendly version of the platform. It also has partnerships with major media companies and content creators, allowing original programming for YouTube Red, a premium subscription service. YouTube is the leading video-sharing platform and has a dominant market position. As of 2021, it has over 2 billion logged-in monthly active users. Its main competitors include other video-sharing platforms like Vimeo and Dailymotion. However, YouTube's user base, content library, and market dominance set it apart from its competitors. Throughout its history, YouTube has achieved numerous milestones. In 2006, Google acquired the platform for $1. 65 billion, further enhancing its growth and resources. Over the years, YouTube has faced challenges regarding copyright infringement and content moderation. The company has continuously worked on improving its policies and algorithms to address these concerns. Currently, YouTube continues to evolve and adapt to changing user preferences and technological advance
Questions about the YouTube logo
Why did YouTube choose a play button as its logo symbol?
The play triangle is the universal symbol for video playback. By embedding it in a branded red rectangle, YouTube turned a generic UI control into a proprietary asset that communicates its core function — press to watch — without words, giving it an advantage over competitors using abstract marks.
Has the YouTube logo changed significantly over time?
The 2017 redesign was the first major shift: the wordmark moved from a modified Alternate Gothic to the custom YouTube Sans typeface, and the icon detached from the word 'Tube' to become a standalone play button in a red rounded rectangle. Earlier versions (2005–2011, 2011–2017) kept the red tube shape integrated with the text.
What color is the YouTube logo?
The dominant color of the YouTube logo is Blood Donor (hex #ED1D24). The closest Pantone match is 2035 C.
How many colors does the YouTube logo have?
The YouTube logo uses 3 primary colors: #ED1D24, #666666, #252323.
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The YouTube logo is a trademark of its owner, shown here for identification and design research. Color data is measured from the public mark by LogoLabs; analysis is editorial commentary. No affiliation or endorsement is implied.