# MINI new logo (2018)

> MINI launched a new logo in Mar 2018, designed by KKLD and MINI in-house. Dec 2017 announced, on cars from Mar 2018: chrome 3D winged wheel replaced by flat black-and-white 2D wings + MINI.

## Key facts

- Brand: MINI
- Launched: Mar 2018
- Studio: KKLD and MINI in-house
- What changed: Dec 2017 announced, on cars from Mar 2018: chrome 3D winged wheel replaced by flat black-and-white 2D wings + MINI.
- Industry: Automotive
- Logos: https://rebrandlog.com/logos/mini-2018/before.jpg (before), https://rebrandlog.com/logos/mini-2018/after.svg (after)

## The rebrand, explained

When the modern MINI launched in 2001, it wore a three-dimensional chrome logo: a winged wheel with the brand name in white capitals on black. That badge stayed almost unchanged for close to 15 years and, in BMW's words, became a globally familiar symbol of driving fun and individual style.

The flat mark was not new in 2018. It first appeared in MINI's 2015 brand relaunch, under then brand head Sebastian Mackensen, as the communications logo, and only moved onto the cars with the facelifted Hatch and Convertible in March 2018. BMW called the result tradition-conscious, authentic and clear.

Announced in December 2017 and fitted to cars from March 2018, the new version keeps the motif and drops the effects. The wings and central wheel become a flat black-and-white graphic, homing in on the key elements of the old logo. It appears on the bonnet, the rear, the steering wheel and the key. BMW traced the lineage back further, to early badges such as a red ox and blue waves inside a winged circle for the city of Oxford, and the hexagonal Austin Mini mark from 1962. A new MINI typeface came with it.

The design was developed by MINI's in-house team with KKLD.

Owners split. On Reddit's MINI forum some liked the cleaner, more visible badge, while others found the flat print cheap or lazy compared with chrome, and some worried it would simply collect dirt.

BMW's own release placed the flat badge inside a surprisingly tangled lineage. The 1959 car wore Morris and Austin badges, the Morris version an ox and waves for Oxford set between stylised wings, and Wolseley and Riley variants had their own. Only in 1969 did the car become simply Mini, under an abstract shield that bore no relation to those symbols. The winged wheel returned with the Mini Cooper in 1990, and BMW's 2001 relaunch gave it chrome and three dimensions. The 2018 mark strips the shading and greys to stark black and white, and BMW itself noted how closely it echoes the mid 1990s classic Mini badge.

This was early in what became a wave of flat car logos, and MINI had a better reason than most. The chrome badge was pure 2001, a product of the era's love of glossy 3D. The flat version is stronger at small sizes and still unmistakable, because the wings did the work all along.

In short: Chrome off, wings on: an early and sensible flattening.

## Sources

- https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/article/detail/T0276950EN/tradition-conscious-authentic-clear:-the-new-mini-logo?language=en
- https://www.autonews.com/article/20171214/RETAIL03/171219828/mini-goes-minimalist-with-retooled-logo

## Cite this

Rebrand Log, "MINI new logo (2018)", https://rebrandlog.com/rebrand/mini-2018/, last updated 2026-10-20.