Rotary is an international voluntary club organization with 1.4 million members – problem-solving leaders – who bring people together and act to create lasting positive change. Club members come from diverse professional, religious, political, and cultural backgrounds, united by a desire to help their local communities and the world. Rotary’s activities are aimed, in particular, at overcoming poverty, disease, hunger, illiteracy, environmental pollution, and many other issues. Each club is an independent public organization operating under the legislation of its country.
Rotary began thanks to Chicago attorney Paul Harris. He founded the first clue at the beginning of 1905. His initial goal was to facilitate an exchange of ideas and the formation of lasting friendships between professionals with diverse backgrounds. The name comes from the English word “rotation,” which refers to the changing of meeting places and club leadership. A second club was created three years later in San Francisco. In 1910, the Rotary movement already had 16 clubs and 1,500 members. Over time, Rotary’s reach and activities expanded, shifting some focus towards humanitarian service. As of today, it has around 1.5 million members worldwide.
What is Rotary?
Rotary International is an organization that unites Rotary clubs around the world. It unites people of various professions from all over the world for humanitarian service and other goals. It aims to set high moral and ethical standards in all professions and strengthen goodwill and peace in all countries.
Until 2013, the Rotary emblem resembled a gear wheel with its name printed across the top and bottom. The gear is depicted in a vibrant blue color with yellow teeth and inscription. The gear is a symbol of movement and is meant to represent the positive change that the Rotarians bring to their communities and the world. Its round shape further highlights the global reach of its clubs. Inside the gear, there is a five-pointed star that serves as the center. It is interesting to note that the gear has 24 teeth, which represent the 24 hours in a day, emphasizing the idea of continuous service.
The organization kept on using the gearwheel as its symbol. It was done in a warm yellow in combination with white. To the left, the design now includes the name, Rotary, printed in dark blue color. The font choice is clean and simple with a classic style. The letter “t” has its vertical stroke cut on a diagonal, which adds a unique touch. Although the organization preserved its original identity, the two parts of the logo (text and symbol) seem to be disconnected.
The yellow color represents the optimism and energy to drive the positive change of each Rotarian. This color is also associated with friendliness and happiness. The logo also uses blue, which gives the organization some authority and represents the stability, freedom, responsibility, honesty, loyalty, and other characteristics the organization stands for.
The font in the earlier logo version features clean, straying lines that match the symmetry and geometry of the gearwheel. There are no fancy strokes as the organization wants to stay transparent and supports virtues such as honesty and ethical behavior. It resembles the Webnar Demi Bold font. Later, the company switched to sentence case, so only the first letter was capitalized instead of all caps.