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The Renault diamond has been there since 1925. Its lines have been redrawn many times, with clear, sharp versions in 1946, 1959 and 1972, the last designed by Vasarely and Yvaral, until Style Marque gave it a 3D chrome finish in 1992.

It surfaced in January 2021 without a press release, glowing on the wall behind chief executive Luca de Meo as he presented the Renaulution turnaround plan and on the grille of the Renault 5 Prototype. Work had begun in 2019. Renault then let it spread quietly, through a ZOE advertising campaign and social channels, which it called a launch meant to be frugal but effective.

The 2021 version goes back to lines. It is a flat, two-line shape of two interlocking diamonds, with no typogram or brand signature, presented as an open shape to reflect openness and transparency. Design director Gilles Vidal said it was rethought to become more iconic, simple and meaningful, a timeless signature without superfluous effects or colour, taking up the lines that are part of the brand's graphic heritage. Renault framed it as Nouvelle Vague, insisting on modernity rather than nostalgia for the 1970s.

The logo was created in-house by Renault's design team. Vidal said the enthusiasm and very positive feedback it received persuaded the company to launch it, with the full range due to carry it by 2024.

The quietness had a cost. Creative Bloq ran it under the headline that nobody seemed to have noticed, and the few reactions it found were sceptical of flat design in general, with more than one comparison to Umbro. Design Week and It's Nice That treated it more kindly as a timeless, digital-ready version of the diamond.

Autocar reported that the logo began as a one-off for the Renault 5 concept and was adopted brand-wide because of how it was received. Design director Gilles Vidal called the 5 a formidable testing ground, and said the enthusiasm and positive feedback persuaded Renault to launch it. It was the ninth logo built on the diamond Renault adopted in 1925; striped fills had gone in 1972, and the outgoing version dated from 1992 with four revisions, the last in 2015. The two intertwined lines recalled the 1972 design used for 20 years. The badge would arrive as models were refreshed or replaced, reaching every Renault by 2024.

This is the best of the flat car logo wave because it is not just flatter. The op-art double line gives the diamond depth without chrome, and the debt to Vasarely is the most interesting heritage reference any carmaker made in that period.