Logo Timeline · 1952–Present
The Colonel, Full Figure
Harland Sanders had been perfecting his pressure-fried chicken recipe at a roadside restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky since the early 1930s, and franchising it as "Kentucky Fried Chicken" from 1952 onward — he was 65 years old, and it was effectively his second career. Lippincott & Margulies designed the first logo as a full-body caricature of Sanders himself: string tie, spectacles, and goatee rendered in detailed black-and-white linework. Unlike nearly every other founder-mascot in American food history, Sanders was not an invented character — he toured the country in character as "The Colonel" until his death in 1980, making the logo a working likeness of an active company spokesman for almost three decades.
- Harland Sanders was 65 when he began franchising Kentucky Fried Chicken in 1952 — the "Colonel" title was honorary, awarded by the Kentucky governor in 1935
- Sanders sold the company in 1964 for $2 million but remained its public face and quality-control ambassador, touring restaurants in his white suit and string tie until his death in 1980
- The original 1952 mark was a detailed full-figure caricature — later redesigns progressively cropped in on just the head and shoulders
- KFC is one of the only major fast-food brands whose founder mascot was a real, living, recognizable public figure for the logo's first three decades
Cropped, Softened, Smiling
In March 1978, Lippincott & Margulies returned for the brand's first full identity overhaul. The full-body Colonel was cropped down to a head-and-shoulders portrait, the linework simplified into a cleaner cartoon style with thicker, friendlier strokes, and the expression warmed into a distinct smile. The change reflected fast food's shift toward family-friendly, easily reproducible branding as the category exploded through the 1970s — a logo built for print collateral and slow-drying signage was becoming one built for drive-thru menu boards, bucket packaging, and eventually television.
- First full overhaul of the Kentucky Fried Chicken identity since the 1952 founding mark, cropping the full body down to head and shoulders
- Simplified linework and a distinct, friendlier smile were designed to read cleanly at the smaller sizes fast-food branding increasingly demanded
- Same design firm, Lippincott & Margulies, handled both the 1952 original and the 1978 redesign
- The head-and-shoulders crop established the format every subsequent KFC logo — 1991, 2006, 2026 — would keep
The Colonel Puts On an Apron
On November 14, 2006, KFC gave the Colonel his most significant makeover yet: the square badge became a circle, the palette darkened, and — for the first time — his classic white suit and string tie were swapped for a red apron with three white stripes. Age lines were smoothed away and the illustration rendered in cleaner, more vector-friendly linework. The apron was the deliberate detail: it recast Sanders not as a formally dressed executive but as a working chef, tying the logo directly to the "fresh, hand-breaded, cooked in the restaurant" positioning KFC was pushing at the time.
- Unveiled November 14, 2006 — the badge shape changed from square to circle for the first time in KFC's history
- The white suit and tuxedo of every prior mark was replaced with a red apron bearing three white stripes, shown from the waist up
- Age lines and shadow detail were removed from the Colonel's face, and the illustration was redrawn in a cleaner, more vector-based style suited to digital reproduction
- The apron was explicitly framed as a strategic signal, not just a style update — repositioning Sanders as a hands-on chef rather than a company founder in a suit
This change gives us a chance not only to make sure we stay relevant but also communicates to customers the realness of Colonel Sanders and the fact that he was a chef.
Gregg Dedrick, then-president of KFC's U.S. division · statement accompanying the November 2006 logo redesign
Everything Built Around the Bucket
Launched June 15, 2026 and developed with the design agency JKR, KFC's newest identity is less a logo update than an entire system rebuild: the Colonel gets a thicker outline, a neck and collar, and a warmer expression; the KFC lettermark is stripped to a cleaner shorthand; and the brand name moves to either side of the Colonel rather than sitting underneath him. But the real subject is the bucket itself — standardized as a global brand device that JKR uses as a frame for photography, packaging, and campaign storytelling across more than 34,000 restaurants. JKR calls the resulting system the "Bucketverse": not a refreshed mark, but a connected world built around KFC's most recognizable physical object. The rollout began in the UK and Ireland in June 2026, expanding to Australia, the U.S., and more than 150 countries through the rest of the year.
- Developed with JKR, launched June 15, 2026, alongside a full menu, restaurant interior, packaging, and app redesign — not just a logo change
- The Colonel's illustration gained a thicker outline, a neck and collar, and a warmer expression; the logo becomes a three-dimensional asset rather than a flat mark
- The bucket — previously packaging, not branding — is standardized globally and elevated into the central identity device, described by JKR as the "Bucketverse"
- Rollout began in the UK and Ireland before expanding to Australia, the U.S., and 150+ countries through 2026
Our role was to help it evolve for the next chapter, in a way that only KFC could. We call it the Bucketverse.
Sean Thomas, Global Executive Creative Director, JKR · press materials for the June 2026 KFC global rebrand
When you think chicken, you should think KFC. Our job was to make sure the leader of the category was showing up like one.
Tosh Hall, Global Chief Creative Officer, JKR · interview accompanying the 2026 KFC rebrand launch