The VU logo is one of the most important elements of our VU Amsterdam identity. It consists of the trademarked image of the griffin, the wordmark ‘VU’ and the descriptor ‘Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam’. The VU logo is protected by trademark law, and there are guidelines for its use.
There is one logo for Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. This corporate VU logo has been filed with the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP) and is protected by trademark law. Copying or modifying the logo or using any one of its elements is not allowed. The rights to the VU logo and its individual elements belong to VU Amsterdam and are exercised by the VU Amsterdam Executive Board. Unauthorised use may have legal consequences.
Would you like to use the VU logo? The following rules apply to its use:
- All organisational units of VU Amsterdam use the corporate VU logo;
- Only VU Amsterdam faculties and research institutes may use the VU logo with the addition of their names. Logos that have been approved by VU Designstudio (webpage in Dutch), part of the Communication and Marketing Department, are allowed. If multiple VU Amsterdam faculties and/or research institutes are the sender, only the corporate VU logo may be used. This means that no more than one name may be added to the VU logo;
- VU Amsterdam services, projects and programmes may not use the VU logo with the addition of their name. Instead, make sure the name is clearly mentioned in the running text. An image can also support name recognition;
- Organisations with which VU Amsterdam cooperates may use the VU logo in their communication only after receiving permission to do so. Please contact VU Designstudio (webpage in Dutch) to submit a request.
In addition to the rules that apply to the use of the VU logo, there are also guidelines for using the name of the university. In both national and international contexts, we use only one name: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
