Meta has unveiled a new Instagram logo — the first change to the wordmark since 2016. Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced the refresh on Instagram and Threads, describing it as “sharper and more modern” while still referencing the original.
What the new Instagram logo looks like
The script survives, but it has been straightened out. The loops are tighter, the letterforms squarer, and the flourishes now concentrate on the “s”, the “r” and the “g”. Jasmine Probst, director of product design at Instagram, says the team worked through hundreds of directions — all-caps, camera concepts, literal handwriting — before coming back to the script, per Meta’s design blog.
“Script reflects individuality, so referencing that felt right. The new wordmark is bolder and simpler, with touches of unexpectedness. It cues individual expression, a personal voice, both of which have always been core to Instagram.”
Jasmine Probst, director of product design, Instagram
More than the logo
The wordmark is the visible part; the system underneath has changed too. The gradient stays — still core to the brand — but is used with a lighter touch, while motion, layout and the UI have been refreshed. Three typefaces now do the talking: an updated Instagram Sans, a new handwriting face called Instagram Pen, and a new Instagram Mono. The camera glyph on your home screen is untouched.
It is part of a wider push that has already brought paid subscriptions across all of Meta’s apps and this year’s disappearing-photo Instants.
The internet has opinions
The reaction is exactly what a decade-old logo deserves: split. Plenty of people read the new “r” as a “z”, and “Instagzam” was doing the rounds within hours. TechCrunch notes the curve on the “s” may puzzle users who never learned cursive in the first place. Designers are split down the middle, which for a logo refresh is close to a consensus.
The new wordmark is rolling out globally now, with the rest of the identity following through 2026 and beyond. For UAE users — Instagram is one of the most-used apps in the region — the change arrives automatically with the global rollout: no settings to touch, no updates to chase.
Why has Instagram changed its logo?
The wordmark had sat unchanged since 2016, when Instagram’s last major visual update — the gradient camera icon — landed. Meta calls the refresh an evolution rather than a rebrand, and says its design team tried hundreds of directions, from all-caps to camera concepts, before returning to the script.
Will the Instagram app icon change?
No. The camera glyph on the home screen icon is untouched. Only the wordmark and the surrounding brand system — typefaces, motion, layout and UI — have been refreshed.
When will the new Instagram logo reach the UAE?
The wordmark is rolling out globally now, so the UAE receives it as part of the same worldwide rollout. No separate regional schedule has been announced.
