The Cisco logo is one of the most recognized marks in networking. Nine rounded vertical bars of different heights sit above the uppercase wordmark “CISCO,” and the whole thing is now drawn in a single blue. The bars abstract the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the city the company name is short for.
Cisco Systems was founded in December 1984 by Leonard Bosack and Sandy Lerner, two Stanford computer scientists. The logo has kept the bridge idea through every redesign, while the drawing itself went from a literal red bridge to a row of simple bars.
Within the broader history of tech company logos, Cisco stands out for keeping one core concept for four decades. The 2006 redesign by outside designers gave it the shape it still has.
What Is the Cisco Logo?
The Cisco logo is a combination mark: nine vertical bars forming an abstract Golden Gate Bridge, set above the uppercase wordmark “CISCO.” Jerry Kuyper and Joe Finocchiaro designed the 2006 version, which dropped “Systems” from the logo. The all-blue colorway used today came later, dated 2013 by some sources and 2016 by others.
| Symbol | Nine rounded vertical bars of varying height, an abstract Golden Gate Bridge that also reads as signal bars |
| Designer/agency | Jerry Kuyper and Joe Finocchiaro (2006 identity, started by Cisco’s Gary McCavitt); the original 1980s bridge is credited to founder Len Bosack |
| Current version since | 2006 design; the all-blue colorway came later (2013 or 2016, sources differ) |
| Colors (hex) | One light blue, approx. #049FD9 (third-party value, not confirmed by Cisco) |
| Typeface | Custom uppercase geometric sans wordmark; no typeface is officially credited. Cisco Sans is the separate corporate font |
| Previous major version | 2006 to the color change: dark blue-teal bars with a red CISCO wordmark |
How Has the Cisco Logo Evolved Over Time?
Cisco’s logo has moved through several versions since 1984. Each one simplified the Golden Gate Bridge further, and the company name shrank from “Cisco Systems” to just “Cisco.”
Original Cisco Logo (1980s-1990)
The first logo was a red drawing of the Golden Gate Bridge: two towers, curved cables and thin vertical suspenders, with no text. Cisco’s own heritage site says founder Len Bosack formed it with parabolic equations and dates it to 1985, while other sources say 1984. It was used until 1990.
The bridge also fit the product: early networking devices were called bridges.
Second Cisco Logo (1990-1996)
The bridge became abstract. Pale vertical lines formed two towers inside a blue-teal rectangle, with the small red wordmark “ciscoSystems” beneath it. This was the first version to carry the company name. Cisco heritage material lists a logo release in 1990.
Third Cisco Logo (1996-2006)
The rectangle turned darker and the bars were reduced to sparse white vertical lines. The name moved above the box as red “CISCO SYSTEMS” in capitals. Critics later said the bars looked like a bar chart and that the bridge seemed to float above the water.
Fourth Cisco Logo (2006-2013)
The box disappeared. Kuyper and Finocchiaro, outside consultants, worked with Cisco’s internal team from late 2005 to July 2006 on a mark of rounded bars in dark blue-teal with a bold red “CISCO” wordmark below. The bridge became a secondary element and the legal name stayed Cisco Systems, Inc. This is the old Cisco logo people usually mean when they search for it.
The brand stayed red and blue until the later color change.
Current Cisco Logo (all-blue, since 2013 or 2016)
The shapes are the same as in 2006; only the color changed. The red wordmark and the dark bars were replaced by one light blue. Several logo blogs date this change to 2013 and credit Tolleson Design, but Cisco’s own logo file on Wikimedia Commons is dated 2016, so the exact year is unconfirmed.
One color is easier to reproduce on screens and product interfaces, which is the likely reason for the change.
What Do the Design Elements of the Cisco Logo Mean?
The bars stand for the Golden Gate Bridge, which explains the San Francisco origin of the name. They also read as signal bars or a sound wave, a second meaning that suits a networking company. The 2006 redesign made the bridge a secondary element so the mark would read as “connection” first.
What Are the Cisco Logo Colors?
The current logo uses one light blue, commonly given as #049FD9 (RGB 4, 159, 217). That value comes from third-party brand sites, and I could not confirm it on a Cisco page. Pantone and CMYK values on those sites are also unconfirmed, so treat them as approximate. The logo also appears in black, and in white on dark backgrounds.
Before the all-blue version, the logo combined a dark blue-teal symbol with red lettering. Cisco calls that color “blue,” while the 2006 designers called it teal. The color sits alongside other blue logos in tech, from IBM to Intel.
What Font Is the Cisco Logo?
The wordmark is a bold, geometric, uppercase sans-serif. Cisco has not publicly named a typeface for it, and some logo sites compare it to Futura Bold, which is an unconfirmed resemblance. Cisco Sans is the company’s separate corporate font family for text and its website, not the logo lettering.
How Does the Cisco Logo Compare to Competitor Logos?
Most enterprise tech brands use wordmarks or abstract symbols. Cisco’s logo carries a story, a real landmark reduced to bars. Compared to Fortinet or Palo Alto Networks, which use more abstract or shield-based marks, the geographic reference gives it personality.
Salesforce uses a cloud, VMware a wordmark-led design and IBM its horizontal stripes. Cisco’s bars are the only one of these that double as both a landmark and a signal icon.
What Cultural Impact Has the Cisco Logo Had?
The bar mark became shorthand for networking hardware, and the Golden Gate reference ties it to San Francisco and Silicon Valley. The 2006 shift from “Cisco Systems” to plain “Cisco” also signalled a company that saw itself as broader than routers and switches.
How Should the Cisco Logo Be Used?
The Cisco name and logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. Generic advice applies: do not alter the colors or proportions, and do not use the logo in a way that implies partnership or endorsement. For editorial use, such as articles and reviews, use an unmodified logo. Anything commercial needs permission from Cisco.
FAQ on the Cisco Logo
What does the Cisco logo represent?
The Cisco logo represents the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The nine vertical bars form an abstract bridge and also resemble signal bars.
Who designed the current Cisco logo?
Jerry Kuyper and Joe Finocchiaro designed the 2006 version that today’s mark is based on, with Gary McCavitt of Cisco leading the project. The original red bridge is credited to founder Len Bosack.
What font is used in the Cisco logo?
The wordmark is a custom uppercase geometric sans-serif with no officially credited typeface. Some sources compare it to Futura Bold, which is unconfirmed. The separate Cisco Sans family is used for corporate text.
What are the Cisco logo colors?
One light blue, commonly given as #049FD9. The value comes from third-party sources, not Cisco. Black and white versions also exist.
Why is it called Cisco?
The name is short for San Francisco. Cisco was founded in December 1984 by Leonard Bosack and Sandy Lerner.
How many times has the Cisco logo changed?
There were at least five looks: the red bridge (1980s), the boxed bridge of 1990, the dark box of 1996, the 2006 bars with a red wordmark and the current all-blue version.
What did the old Cisco logo look like?
The first logo was a red drawing of the Golden Gate Bridge. From 1990 to 2006 the bridge sat in a blue rectangle with “Cisco Systems” in red. From 2006 it was dark blue bars with a red CISCO wordmark.
Why is the Cisco logo blue?
The bridge symbol was blue-teal long before the all-blue update. When the red wordmark was dropped, the whole logo became one light blue, which is simpler to reproduce on screens. Cisco has not published its reasoning.
When did Cisco drop “Systems” from its logo?
In the 2006 redesign, when the company adopted the shorter name “Cisco” in its identity. The legal name remains Cisco Systems, Inc.
Can I download and use the Cisco logo?
The logo is a registered trademark. Use only unmodified official files for editorial purposes and ask Cisco for permission for anything commercial.
Conclusion
The Cisco logo has held one idea since the 1980s: a bridge, drawn ever more simply. The red illustration became a boxed abstraction, then nine bars, then a single blue mark that works on any screen.
Dropping “Systems” in 2006 and the later move to one color both follow the same logic as the company itself, from a router maker named after a city to a broad technology brand.
Sources
- Cisco Heritage, Logo origin article – https://heritage.cisco.com/?p=316
- UnderConsideration Speak Up, Guest Editorial by Design Maven on the 2006 Cisco identity – https://underconsideration.com/speakup/archives/002795.html
- Wikipedia, Cisco – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisco
- Wikimedia Commons, File:Cisco logo blue 2016.svg – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cisco_logo_blue_2016.svg
- Logos World, Cisco logo – https://logos-world.net/cisco-logo/
Renowned for his expertise in logo design and visual branding, Bogdan has developed a multitude of logos for various clients.
His skills extend to creating posters, vector illustrations, business cards, and brochures. Additionally, Bogdan's UI kits were featured on marketplaces like Visual Hierarchy and UI8.
He also wrote in the past years on sites like Design Your Way, WebDesignerDepot, WPDean, Designmodo, Speckyboy, Slider Revolution, and more.
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Bogdan Sandu is a seasoned designer who has been designing websites since 2008. Renowned for his expertise in logo design and visual branding, Bogdan has developed a multitude of logos for various clients. His skills extend to creating posters, vector illustrations, business cards, and brochures. Additionally, Bogdan's UI kits were featured on marketplaces like Visual Hierarchy and UI8. He also wrote in the past years on sites like Design Your Way, WebDesignerDepot, WPDean, Designmodo, Speckyboy, Slider Revolution, and more.
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