Evolution of the John Deere logo

The evolution of the John Deere logo and brand

“Jumping deer” is a constant part of the John Deere logo. Over its century and a half history since its inception in 1876. Over this century and a half, the John Deere logo has undergone only minor changes, for many decades, so today if you look at any version of the John Deere logo, most people recognize the John Deere brand. There were a total of 7 attempts to rebrand and change the logo. This just shows that back in 1876, Deere – thought about the future.

The latest version of the logo is almost a quarter of a century old, in 2000 – the company changed the position of the “Jumping Deer” to jump up, before that the deer was always pointing down, or rather in the position of flight and landing after the jump.

“The dawn of the new millennium, marked by unusual technological innovations, was precisely the moment in time when the next step in the evolution of our logo was required. A more modern deer symbolizes strength, energy, movement and progressiveness,”

as former Deere & Company chairman Hans Becherer, who also retired in 2000, put it.

Till 1876 there was a sign, with a picture of a plow.

First John Deere logo. Moline plows
First John Deere logo. Moline plows

1876 – After nearly four decades of perfect work, John Deere registers its trademark for the first time. Although the logo had already been used for three years since 1873 on the plows made by John Deere, which were commonly known as “Moline plows”, which at that time the company was producing more than 60 thousand pieces per year. And to protect its products from counterfeit and fraud – it was decided to register the trademark with the image of a deer jumping over a log, the brand name and city of Moline. Ill.

john deere logo 1876
john deere logo 1912

1912 – the second version of the logo, which had been used since 1910, received registration, the main difference from the first variant was in putting a slogan “Trade mark of quality” under the logo, the logo became clearer and more detailed.

1936 – the 3rd version of the logo appeared, the silhouette of the deer became uniform more smooth, without detail, which made it easier to apply the logo on stencil dies. The John Deere and Moline. Ill – became bolder in bolder font. a 12-sided border was added around it.

john deere logo 1936
john deere logo 1937

1937 – the first John Deere centennial – 100 years since the founding year, simplifies the logo by leaving out the jumping deer and the name and city. The logo is even easier to stencil.

1950 – The year John Deere enters the international market, the name of the town is removed from the logo, the shape of the tail and antlers of the deer are changed for more resemblance to a white deer, the grass and logs are removed, the slogan “Quality Farming Equipment” is added, and the logo is framed.

john deere logo 1950
john deere logo 1956

1956 – John Deere – becomes a confident player in the construction and logging equipment market. The slogan “Quality Farm Equipment” is removed from the logo, which becomes irrelevant; the shape of the deer is changed a little; the frame becomes more rounded; the name of the brand is placed at the bottom. Registration as a trademark receives only in 1962.

1968 – to facilitate the application on stencil matrix, it was decided to more stylize the stag. The image becomes more graceful and clear, having reduced a quantity of details on the picture, feet and antlers do merge.

john deere logo 1968
john deere logo 2000

2000 – the beginning of a new era, a new millennium, it was decided to change the logo so that there would be no doubt that her “jumping stag” – jumping up, not landing. The deer’s body, head and antlers point forward, signifying a clear desire to work and develop the company only forward with new technology.


Source: Deere.com. All of the above logos are trademarks of Deere & Company. Taken from public sources. For users and news-jd.com readers only to familiarize themselves with the history of the John Deere logo.

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