A Third Attempt at Simplicity
Mercedes-Benz has quietly modified its brand mark, reintroducing a flat, monochrome version of its three-pointed star for brand and corporate communications.1 The change (first visible in the company's 2024 annual report published in February 2025, and adopted across social media profiles in late March) was not accompanied by an official press announcement.1
The flat star is not new to Mercedes-Benz. The automaker made the same transition in 2007, moving from a metallic, three-dimensional rendering to a simplified white form.1 That version lasted under three years before being reversed under then-CEO Dieter Zetsche, who reportedly felt the minimalist approach conveyed insufficient premium quality.1 The metallic, gradient-heavy star that followed remained in use for over a decade.
Two Stars, One Brand
The 2025 iteration draws a deliberate distinction between contexts. In brand materials (websites, social media profiles, print advertising, and annual reports) the flat star now serves as the visual anchor.1 On vehicles, the three-dimensional chrome-finish star remains.1 The exception is illuminated applications, where the flat version also applies.1
The shift coincides with the debut of the new Mercedes-Benz CLA, described in official communications as "the beginning of a new design era", and with the company's broader "Next Level Performance" restructuring programme, which targets savings of approximately five billion euros by 2027.1, 2
"Mercedes-Benz ist eine ikonische Marke. Unsere Verantwortung besteht darin, ihr volles Potenzial zu heben." Ola Källenius, CEO, Mercedes-Benz Group AG.1
The star's three points trace back to the founding ambition of Gottlieb Daimler: to power transportation on land, at sea, and in the air.3 That symbolism remains unchanged. What shifts in 2025 is the register in which the mark operates, from an object rendered for maximum surface glamour to a sign optimised for screens, print, and the faster cadence of digital communication.
Mercedes-Benz is not the only premium automotive brand to have moved in this direction. Audi, BMW, and Volkswagen each simplified their marks between 2016 and 2020, moving away from three-dimensional, chrome-like treatments toward flat, line-based renderings.4 The 2025 update completes a long-running convergence in how European automotive brands present their symbols across media.
Written with AI assistance, edited by a human. Find out more about our Use of AI.
1. Designtagebuch, Achim Schaffrinna, "Mercedes-Benz kehrt zum minimalistischen Stern zurück", 4 April 2025, for the return to a minimalist single colour star in brand and corporate communication, for the 2024 annual report published in February being one of the first media applications to carry it and for the flat mark having served as the profile picture on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram for two weeks at the time of writing, for the absence of any announcement, the company having addressed the change "weder in Pressemeldungen noch im Geschäftsbericht oder in anderen Medien", for the autumn 2007 switch from a metallic three-dimensional rendering to a plain single colour star and its reversal after not quite three years, which the report attributes to the then Daimler chief Dieter Zetsche disliking that kind of minimalist design, for the split by context, the flat star acting as the visual sender of brand and corporate communication while products keep the version with a 3D look and illuminated applications are the exception, for the market launch of the all electric CLA being called "der Beginn einer neuen Design-Ära bei Mercedes-Benz" in the official press release, for the "Next Level Performance" restructuring and savings programme aiming at around five billion euros by 2027, and for the quotation of Ola Källenius, Vorstandsvorsitzender der Mercedes-Benz Group AG, which the body carries in the original German wording, "Mercedes-Benz ist eine ikonische Marke. Unsere Verantwortung besteht darin, ihr volles Potenzial zu heben." https://www.designtagebuch.de/mercedes-benz-kehrt-zum-minimalistischen-stern-zurueck/
2. Mercedes-Benz Media, "Der neue Mercedes-Benz CLA", press kit for the world premiere in Rome on 13 March 2025, for the debut of the new CLA that the body dates the change of register to. This is the specific newsroom item behind the rotating index media.mercedes-benz.com that the sources list for this verse names. Read on 18 September 2026. https://media.mercedes-benz.com/all-new-cla
3. Wikipedia, "Mercedes-Benz", read on 18 September 2026, for the three-pointed star standing for the founding aim of Gottlieb Daimler, universal motorisation on land, on water and in the air. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz
4. Designtagebuch, Achim Schaffrinna, three reports on the same move at the other German premium marques, together for the dates the body gives for Audi, BMW and Volkswagen. "Die neuen Audi-Ringe, Vorsprung durch Flat Design", 15 April 2016, for Audi converting its rings from a chrome coloured look to a single colour version, https://www.designtagebuch.de/die-neuen-audi-ringe-vorsprung-durch-flat-design/. "Da ist es nun, das neue Logo von Volkswagen", 10 September 2019, for the flat, two-dimensional wordmark entirely free of gradients that Volkswagen presented at the IAA in Frankfurt on 9 September 2019 alongside the world premiere of the ID.3, https://www.designtagebuch.de/da-ist-es-nun-das-neue-logo-von-volkswagen/. "BMW präsentiert sich mit neuem, zweidimensionalen Markenzeichen", 3 March 2020, for the flat two-dimensional mark BMW introduced for its communication. https://www.designtagebuch.de/bmw-praesentiert-sich-mit-neuem-zweidimensionalen-markenzeichen/
