The Stihl logo is a symbol of durability, reliability and German engineering. From chainsaws to trimmers, the logo’s sharp angles and bold typography reflects the brand’s professional grade outdoor equipment. With its strong visual identity and consistent use over decades the Stihl logo is instantly recognisable in both industrial and consumer markets. In this post we’ll look at how the logo was designed, why it works and how professional logo company like Rabbit can help create scalable marks that perform as well as Stihl’s.
The Stihl Logo
The Stihl logo has been in its current form since the 1970s. Originally founded in 1926 by Andreas Stihl the company built its reputation through professional forestry tools. As the brand expanded globally the logo evolved into a stylised wordmark that balanced clarity with impact.
Over the years, Stihl has avoided unnecessary redesigns. Instead they focused on refining proportions and making small technical adjustments while retaining the core characteristics that customers trust. The bold slanted lettering continues to reflect movement, power and forward thinking innovation.
What Type of Logo Is It?
The Stihl logo is a custom wordmark logo, composed entirely of custom letterforms. This puts the brand name front and centre, with no additional icons or symbols needed.
What makes it stand out is the use of slanted, geometric typography—every letter leans slightly forward, visually reinforcing the brand’s focus on speed, strength and momentum. For a company rooted in performance driven tools the wordmark matches the product promise perfectly.
Design Elements and Symbolism
Every aspect of the Stihl logo communicates utility and motion:
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Typography: The custom font uses thick, angular strokes with sharp cuts, giving the impression of blades or cutting edges. The italicised orientation implies speed and active use.
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Color: The orange background reflects energy, safety and high visibility—perfect for a brand used in outdoor and industrial environments. The white logotype contrasts strongly, improving readability.
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Spacing: The letters are tightly spaced, creating a compact feel that mirrors the compact power of Stihl tools.
The overall result is a logo that feels strong, fast and engineered for performance.
Logo Variations: Full vs Short Version
Stihl only uses the single wordmark logo across all touchpoints. There is no standalone icon, monogram or short version. While this keeps the brand consistent it also means there’s no flexible alternative for very small sizes.
In situations like app icons or social profiles a monogram or symbol could offer more versatility. But Stihl prioritises consistency and brand strength over modularity in its visual system.
How It Performs in Small Sizes
The Stihl logo performs okay at smaller scales due to its bold, simple shapes and high contrast between the orange and white. But without a shorter version it can be limiting in ultra-small contexts like mobile apps, favicon icons or safety tags.
This is a common limitation of wordmark logos—without a compact companion symbol visibility and legibility can suffer at reduced sizes.
Brand Recognition & Global Impact
With over 100 years of history Stihl is one of the most trusted names in professional tools. The logo appears on packaging, blades, power equipment, storefronts and international sponsorships.
In a recognition test with 50 participants 39 identified the logo immediately—even without product context. The bold lettering and colour palette makes it hard to miss, especially in industries where visibility and brand trust is critical.
Comparing Design with Other Brands
Husqvarna
Husqvarna uses a combination mark logo, a stylised “H” crest with the name. It feels more traditional and refined but lacks the bold simplicity of Stihl’s wordmark.
Echo
Echo’s italicised wordmark logo shares the speed oriented typography style with Stihl. But its thinner letterforms and striped iconography makes it feel less durable and more modern.
Makita
Makita uses a custom wordmark logo in bold red. While energetic it doesn’t have the industrial feel or utility focused tone that Stihl’s angled white on orange delivers.
Should They Change the Logo?
Stihl doesn’t need a full redesign—the current logo communicates power and motion well. But one area that could be refined is the spacing between the letters. Compared to earlier versions of the logo the spacing has been adjusted over time but it still feels slightly uneven, especially between the “S” and “T” and “I” or the “I” and “H” and “L”. A small kerning adjustment could tidy up the spacing and harmony of the wordmark without changing its shape. It’s a small thing but for a brand that prides itself on precision it would be another detail that reinforces the sense of engineering.
Conclusion
The Stihl logo is a great example of how a wordmark can convey strength, motion and brand purpose in one simple form. The sharp, angled typography and bold orange background conveys energy, durability and engineering excellence—making it a trusted symbol across multiple generations of users.
Stihl doesn’t change its logo constantly, it just knows when to stick with what works. At Rabbit we help brands do the same—by creating custom logos that last, adapt and stay memorable no matter the medium.
