Coles has been part of Australian retail for over a century, and its logo has changed more times than most people would guess, roughly ten distinct updates according to brand historians. What’s interesting is how much simpler the logo has become over time, ending up as one of the most stripped back marks of any major Australian retailer.
From a Variety Store to a Household Name
Coles traces its history back to 1914, when G.J. Coles opened the Coles Variety Store in a Melbourne suburb. His brothers Jim and Arthur soon joined the business, and it was formally registered as G.J. Coles & Coy Proprietary Limited in 1921. The company grew steadily through the following decades, moving into self-service retail and eventually supermarkets.
The “New World” Era
One of the more distinctive chapters in Coles’ branding history is a name most younger Australians have never heard of. In the early 1960s, Coles branded its supermarkets as “Coles New World,” a name and identity tied to the optimism of the space race era. The format combined a butcher, grocer and deli all under one roof, considered a genuinely novel concept at the time. This branding ran for roughly three decades.
From New World Back to Coles
In April 1991, Coles New World was formally rebranded as Coles Supermarkets, with a red and orange orb carried over as a visual callback to the New World era. A further simplification came in 1998, when the branding was shortened again to simply “Coles.”
The orb itself was dropped from the logo in late 2004, though it lingered on physical store signage for several more years before disappearing entirely by around 2010. That orb, small as it was, carried decades of brand history behind it, which is part of why it took so long to fully phase out even after the primary logo had moved on.
Wesfarmers and the Modern Wordmark
Coles’ current visual identity took shape following its 2007 acquisition by Wesfarmers, with the brand moving toward a simple, typographic wordmark rather than relying on a symbol or icon at all. The design strips things back to a single word, “coles,” set in red, with no accompanying icon or ball.
This shift toward pure typography, using only a wordmark with no separate symbol, reflects a broader move toward minimalism that several major retailers have made over the past two decades, choosing to lean entirely on a distinctive typeface and colour rather than a standalone graphic mark.
Why a Pure Wordmark Can Work
Dropping a symbol entirely is a bold move for a retailer as large as Coles, since it means the brand has to rely purely on typography and colour to stay recognisable. It works here because red has been so consistently tied to the Coles name for decades that the colour alone carries a lot of the recognition, the wordmark just needs to be clean enough not to get in the way.
This isn’t a strategy that suits every business. A newer brand without decades of colour association built up would likely need more visual anchor than a wordmark alone provides. For an established retailer like Coles, though, it’s a demonstration of how much brand equity can live in something as simple as a consistent colour and clean typography.
About Business Logo Design Australia
Business Logo Design Australia designs custom logos for businesses across the country, from new startups to established businesses going through a rebrand. Every project starts with a real conversation about your business, followed by original concepts, a set number of revisions, and a complete set of final files ready for web, print, signage and everyday use. Pricing is laid out clearly before you commit to a package, so you always know what’s included.
Simple Doesn’t Mean Easy to Get Right
A clean wordmark logo like Coles’ current identity looks effortless, but getting the typography, spacing and colour right takes real design skill. Business Logo Design Australia can help you work out whether a wordmark, icon, or combination mark suits your business best.