Stanford University, formally Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. Leland and Jane Stanford founded it in 1885 in memory of their son, and it admitted its first students in 1891. Its ties to the growth of Silicon Valley make the name one of the most recognized in higher education.
Stanford’s brand is built on a single color, Cardinal Red. The athletic teams are called the Cardinal after that color rather than the bird, and the university has no official mascot. The everyday mark is a clean wordmark in Cardinal Red, while the seal and the block S appear in ceremonial and athletic settings. This page covers the university wordmark; the live site also lists a separate student theater group, which is a different entity.
Logo history
- 1891: The university opens; Cardinal had represented the school before 1930, according to Wikipedia.
- 2012: The current Stanford wordmark is introduced, recorded on Commons as Stanford wordmark (2012).
This timeline lists only changes that a cited source confirms. Earlier or minor variants of the Stanford University mark that could not be dated from a primary or reputable source are left out rather than guessed.
Logo colors
| Color | HEX | RGB | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinal Red | #8C1515 | 140, 21, 21 | Stanford Identity Guide primary colors (PMS 201 C, CMYK 0 100 65 34) and Commons SVG |
| Cardinal Red Light | #B83A4B | 184, 58, 75 | Stanford Identity Guide |
| Cardinal Red Dark | #820000 | 130, 0, 0 | Stanford Identity Guide |
| Black | #2E2D29 | 46, 45, 41 | Stanford Identity Guide |
| Cool Grey | #53565A | 83, 86, 90 | Stanford Identity Guide (PMS Cool Grey 11 C) |
The Stanford University palette in this draft has 5 recorded values. Cardinal Red is #8C1515, which is RGB 140, 21, 21. Cardinal Red Light is #B83A4B, which is RGB 184, 58, 75. Cardinal Red Dark is #820000, which is RGB 130, 0, 0. Black is #2E2D29, which is RGB 46, 45, 41. Cool Grey is #53565A, which is RGB 83, 86, 90. Where a value comes from a redrawn vector rather than the owner’s own guide, check it against official files before using it in design work.
Values confirmed on the Stanford Identity Guide primary colors page via its Wayback Machine copy of August 7, 2026.
Typography
The Stanford Identity Guide lists Source Sans 3 and Source Serif 4 as primary typefaces.
Design context and usage rules
The identity guide describes the primary palette as Cardinal Red, white, black and cool grey, with secondary and accent palettes mixed in for balance. It treats white as an essential color rather than empty space and recommends tints of black in steps of ten percent for extra greys. Note that Stanford black is not pure black: the guide gives RGB 46, 45, 41.
FAQ
What is Stanford’s color?
Cardinal Red, #8C1515, PMS 201 C.
Why are Stanford’s teams called the Cardinal?
The name refers to the color, not the songbird.
When was the current Stanford wordmark introduced?
The Commons file dates it to 2012.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_University
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stanford_wordmark_(2012).svg
- https://identity.stanford.edu/design-elements/color/
- https://web.archive.org/web/20260807101342/https://identity.stanford.edu/design-elements/color/primary-colors/
- https://identity.stanford.edu/design-elements/typography/primary-typefaces/
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