While the logo of JPMorgan Chase & Co. may look simple, it does its job perfectly and fits the type of company to which it belongs.
What is the symbol of J. P. Morgan Chase &Co?
The Graphical symbol of the J. P. Morgan Chase & Co company is a heavily stylized octagon in blue, composed of four segments. The segments and their direction stand for motion and growth, and the plain square, formed in the negative space of the octagon, represents the beginning of progress.
J. P. Morgan Chase & Co is one of the most reputable and influential financial organizations in the world, which operates on all continents, with offices in more than 60 countries across the globe. The company is the market leader in investment banking and financial consulting, and its services are used by private consumers, corporations, and government organizations.
The name of the company represents its history, as it appeared as a result of a merger of two large financial institutions. The roots of J. P. Morgan Chase & Co can be traced back to 1799 when The Bank of the Manhattan Co. was founded.Later this bank became part of The Chase Manhattan Bank. Chase National Bank founded in 1877 by John Thompson, was named after Salmon P. Chase, the famous American politician, and lawyer, and by 1930 this bank became the largest in the world and absorbed The Bank of the Manhattan.
Another company that shared part of its name with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co was Drexel, Morgan & Co, founded in 1871 in New York by bankers Anthony Drexel and J. Pierpont Morgan.In 2000, Chase Manhattan Bank bought JP Morgan and thus got not only a valuable brand but also eliminated a strong competitor.
When JPMorgan Chase was founded in its current structure in 2000, its brand identity was formed partly out of the brand identities of its predecessors, Chase Manhattan Bank and J.P. Morgan & Co.
To begin with, the name of the new company was formed out of the names of these banks. The octagon emblem for the J.P. Morgan Chase logo was borrowed from the logo of the Chase Manhattan Bank where it was present since 1961. Only the color changed.
The type was a completely new one; it was a clean modern sans.
At first glance, the updated logo looks even older than its predecessor. The contemporary sans serif typeface was replaced by a classic serif font, one of the types that were more popular in the previous century.
And yet, in the case of the J.P. Morgan logo, this approach appears reasonable. Banks typically prefer to emphasize their traditions (which imply security). While technically speaking, JPMorgan Chase & Co is a rather young company, the logotype is one of the ways to make it seem somewhat “older” (and thus more reliable) in the eyes of the clients.
The word “Co” in the name of the bank seems to work for the same purpose – it is the way people used to call their companies more than a century ago.
In 2024 the JPMorgan Chase logo got a stronger and more progressive look. The concept of the badge is still based solely on the lettering, yet the typeface, the thickness, and even the color of the inscription were changed. Now it is a bold and elegant serif font with sharp tails of some characters. As for the color palette, the shade of blue got a bit more intense and bright.
The mergers that formed JPMorgan Chase, an investment bank and financial services holding company, started in 1996. In addition to Chase Manhattan Bank and J.P. Morgan & Co., the company’s main parts were Bank One, Bear Stearns, and Washington Mutual.
In 2018, S&P Global named it the largest bank in the US and the sixth-largest bank in the world by total assets (US$2.687 trillion).
The elegant title case lettering from the primary badge of the J. P. Morgan Chase & Co is set in a classy and sophisticated serif typeface with medium-weight bars and elongated serifs on their ends. The closest fonts to the one, used in the J. P. Morgan Chase & Co insignia, are, probably, Baskerville No. 2 Std Roman, Song ASC Traditional Light, or M Sung PRC Light.
As for the color palette of the J. P. Morgan Chase & Co visual identity, it is based on black for the lettering and blue and white for the emblem. All three shades in the logo look serious and professional and stand for protection, expertise, and confidence.