The Spanish capital of Madrid has introduced a new city logo, modernizing its traditional coat of arms with a simplified design that maintains the historic elements while adapting to contemporary communication needs. The redesign was completed entirely by internal city administration staff over two years, requiring no additional financial resources according to Spanish media reports.
Madrid, Spain's political and cultural center, traces its urban settlement back to a 9th-century Moorish fortress that was conquered by Castile in 1083. The city's historic coat of arms, with origins reaching back to medieval times, features a bear standing against a strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) within a shield adorned with seven stars and topped by an open royal crown. This heraldic symbol has been an integral part of the city administration's official identity for decades.
The new logo was first publicly revealed during the city's annual Christmas lighting presentation, a highly publicized media event. However, the city administration has not released any background information about the change through press releases or social media posts. Profile pictures on Instagram, Facebook, and other platforms were updated without explanation, drawing criticism from opposition parties.
Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida of the Popular Party (PP) explained the rationale to the newspaper Diario ABC, stating: "Adapting to modern times and today's communication is extremely important. The new brand that city institutions will use as their visual identity respects the fundamental elements of the original symbol and can be much better integrated due to its simpler form." The mayor emphasized that the original shield would not be replaced entirely, but rather represents a new identity for the city.
The redesigned logo transforms the traditional coat of arms into a more streamlined, contemporary visual language while preserving its essential character. Details such as the tree's fruits and decorative graphic elements have been removed. Both the tree and shield now feature an outline style rather than solid fills, and the tree and bear within the shield have been enlarged and presented in a cropped format. Despite these changes, the bear's distinctive characteristics and style remain largely intact.
Alongside the pictorial mark, the wordmark has also been updated. The city name, still rendered in capital letters, now uses the Chulapa typeface instead of the previous Gill Sans font. Both are sans-serif fonts, but Chulapa has been part of Madrid's visual identity for several years. This custom typeface was designed specifically for the city administration by graphic designers and type designers Joancarles Casasín and Pablo Gámez, drawing inspiration from historic street signs designed by Ruiz de Luna that continue to characterize Madrid's cityscape today.
The redesign process reportedly took two years of internal work, with the city logo developed entirely by staff within the administration, resulting in no additional costs. However, this approach has drawn criticism from opposition members in the city council. Reyes Maroto from the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) has complained about a lack of transparency and public participation in the process.
Currently, implementation of the new logo remains inconsistent across city platforms. The old logo is still being used on the official city website (madrid.es) and the city's corporate design portal (identidad.madrid.es), while social media platforms have already implemented the new design. This gradual rollout reflects the ongoing transition period as the city updates its various communication channels.
The logo redesign represents a successful translation of a heraldic symbol into contemporary visual language, removing unnecessary elements like the vertical separator line while strengthening the wordmark's role as an identity-building element. The new form achieves greater simplicity without losing the essence and character of the original design, with the tree, bear, and crown remaining clearly recognizable even at very small sizes, demonstrating the quality of the new design approach.
