Logos

The William & Mary logo is the cornerstone of our visual identity — a symbol of excellence and tradition recognized around the world. Using it consistently reinforces our shared story and helps every audience immediately identify our work as part of the William & Mary community. The following guidelines outline proper usage for university, school, office and department, athletics and student organization logos, ensuring clarity, distinction and unity across all applications. Together, these marks represent the strength of one brand expressed through many voices.

Signature Lockups & Logo Creation

As part of William & Mary’s Brand Guidelines, departments, offices, programs, initiatives and events may not create custom logos. An abundance of independent marks dilutes the strength, clarity and recognizability of the university brand.

Official university marks are reserved for William & Mary schools, administrative units, academic departments and formally designated institutional entities. Non-signature events, affinity groups, campaigns and informal organizations are not eligible for standalone logos.

Campus units are required to use an approved William & Mary signature lockup for communications. When distinction is needed, units should rely on approved brand elements — typography, color palette, photography, graphic elements and messaging frameworks — rather than creating new marks.

In limited cases, University Marketing may develop a brand-standard lockup or graphic treatment that remains fully aligned with institutional guidelines. Requests may be submitted through the MarComm request form.

Primary Logo

The William & Mary logo is the keystone of our visual identity. This logo is designed for clarity and scalability and should be used on all communications materials. Using the logo consistently will enhance the recognition of the University by all audiences. The primary logo can either be stacked or all on one line.

Download Primary Logo

Secondary Logo with Cypher

The secondary logos include options where the wordmark is paired with the Cypher. This logo should only be used when it’s being presented large enough for the Cypher to render clearly.

Download Secondary Logo

W&M Monogram

In certain contexts, particularly on merchandise, the “W&M” monogram may serve as substitute primary branding for the university logo. The official “W&M” is finished artwork and must never be recreated or altered. It must always include the ampersand, and no substitutions to the ampersand’s style, size, or placement are permitted.

The primary version features the “W” and “M” in William & Mary Green and the ampersand in William & Mary Gold on a white background. Acceptable variations may be used to accommodate different background colors or reversed (white) applications. The university’s primary colors — green, gold or white — may be used to offset the ampersand from the “W” and “M,” but the monogram should never appear in Spirit Gold.

Download Monogram

School Logos

School logos are designed for consistency, working well both together and on their own. Each school has horizontal and vertical versions. School names appear in green, title-case type — complementing the W&M logo while distinguishing school logos from unit logos.

By virtue of their size, audience and academic missions, schools are unique parts of the university. Their distinction as separate schools in turn requires distinction in their visual identities. Each school maintains a logo that serves as a unique mark for its purposes while allowing it to remain complementary to the wider university visual identity system.

All policies that apply to the university logo also apply to each school’s logo (e.g. prohibited alterations, etc.)

Download School Logos

Department & Program Lockups

Department and program lockups use the full William & Mary logo as well as the W&M monogram. In instances where the lockup is alone, without any other school branding, the full William & Mary lockups should be used.

The names of the units are written in bold, all-caps and in a 76% tint of W&M green, to immediately contrast the school lock ups.

Download Lockups

Athletics Logos

The W&M Athletics monogram is the university’s primary athletic mark. It is most often used to either communicate affiliation with William & Mary Athletics or to engender support and spirit for W&M Athletics.

Download Athletics Logos

Griffin

The William & Mary Griffin is the university’s official mascot and is always represented with official artwork. Because the university’s athletic identity is the “Tribe” and not the “Griffins,” it is essential that the Griffin be portrayed in a way that causes no confusion or uncertainty on that point. In order to communicate this clearly, the Griffin most often appears accompanied by mention of the Tribe.

At William & Mary, the word Tribe is synonymous with community. It speaks to our shared commitment to each other and to our passion and pride for this venerable university and the beloved traditions that bring us together.

Depictions of the Griffin should never deviate from the official illustrations. Portions (crops) of the Griffin’s official artwork may be used at the communicator’s discretion, but this must be practiced with care and under the review of peer communicators.

Download the griffin

Student Organization Logos

Recognized student organizations may use official university marks, colors and the registered name “William & Mary” in their communications, as long as they follow brand guidelines. Use of official marks must remain visually separate from the organization’s own logo, except for the W&M Monogram, which may be incorporated directly into student organization logos.

Student organizations may create their own logos. They may use official university colors and may typeset “William & Mary,” but the type must look clearly different from the university wordmark.

Organization logos may not include the university wordmarks, Coat of Arms, the Cypher or any other trademarked assets (other than the W&M Monogram). These marks are reserved to protect the clarity and recognizability of the university’s identity.

Club sports may use the athletics “W&M” artwork. Logos for each club sport are available through Campus Recreation at [[rsclub]].

Logo Usage Guidelines

To maintain consistency, legibility and brand integrity across all applications, every use of the William & Mary logo and all official unit or department logos must follow standard usage guidelines.

View Logo Usage Guidelines

Access Brand Assets & Templates with Canto

William & Mary’s official brand assets are housed in Canto, the university’s digital asset management system for logos, templates, graphics, message maps and other brand resources. This system helps ensure consistent and accurate use of the university’s visual identity and provides access to the most current approved files.

For internal partners, the full suite of brand assets is available by signing in to Canto through single sign on (SSO) using university credentials.

External users and vendor partners can access the main university marks via a Canto portal, allowing collaborators to work with approved assets while maintaining accuracy and brand consistency.

Access Canto (W&M Users) Access Canto (External Users)

Have Questions About Applying the Brand?

The offices of University Marketing and University Communications maintain William & Mary’s visual identity and brand guidelines. Their staff of marketing and communications professionals are available to respond to questions and assist with requests.