SAN FRANCISCO, USA – The bird has taken flight, and X marks the spot. Elon Musk, the maverick CEO of SpaceX and the new owner of Twitter, unveiled a striking new logo for the social media giant on Monday, July 24, 2023: a minimalist, black and white “X.”
The new design replaces Twitter’s familiar blue bird, the iconic symbol of the platform since its inception. This significant rebranding initiative follows Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of the company last year.
Our headquarters tonight pic.twitter.com/GO6yY8R7fO
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 24, 2023
Musk introduced the world to the new logo in a characteristically audacious way. He replaced his Twitter icon with the white X on a black background and then posted a photograph of the logo onto Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters.
“The logo certainly will be refined,” Musk said in an interview on Monday. “And soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds.”
Notably, the X started appearing at the top of the desktop version of Twitter on Monday. However, on the mobile app, the familiar bird still reigned supreme, at least for the time being.
The new logo was not a creation entirely of Musk’s own making. The billionaire had previously asked fans for logo suggestions, ultimately choosing one that he described as embodying the aesthetic of minimalist Art Deco.
This isn’t the first time Musk has showcased a fondness for the letter X. He founded X.com, an online financial services company, in 1999, which eventually transformed into PayPal. In a nod to that piece of personal history, Musk revealed that the X.com web domain now redirects users to Twitter.com.
In response to questions about the future terminology for messages sent on the platform, Musk said tweets would soon be known as “Xs.”
As Twitter transitions from a blue bird to a stark X, one thing is certain: under Musk’s leadership, the world can expect more unexpected twists and turns on the platform. With the “X” now at the heart of Twitter’s identity, the social media giant is on a trajectory as unpredictable and exciting as the rockets of Musk’s SpaceX.
