The Internet Explorer (IE) logo is one of the most recognizable and powerful icons of all time in web browsing. Even though it got discontinued in 2022 and replaced with Microsoft Edge, it has made significant innovation to the browsing world when the internet was on the rise.
During the uprise of the online world, Internet explorer started to gain popularity fairly quickly and throughout its existence, it has changed its logo design several times.
In this article, we’ll dive deeper into learning more on the design, evolution, and cultural significance of the Internet Explorer logo.
The origins
Internet Explorer (IE), one of the first web browsers to ever stand foot in the online world, was developed by Microsoft and played an important role in the 1990s and early 2000s. Internet Explorer was released in August 1995 on Windows 95. It was licensed from Spyglass, Inc. For every copy of the browser sold, Microsoft would pay Spyglass a licensing fee plus royalties.
It was initially bundled with Microsoft Plus as an add-on pack. However, when you installed Windows 95, it wasn’t included by default, but that changed with major updates over the years.
Despite it having so much success from the late 90s to early 2000s, competitors like Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome started to outpace Internet Explorer. This was all because of the speed of the browser and security vulnerabilities.
In 2015, Microsoft introduced Microsoft Edge as a successor to Internet Explorer, which used modern features based on the chromium engine. After 27 years of service, Microsoft decided to retire Internet Explorer in mid 2022.
The logo debate: 1995
When it was first introduced in late 1995, Internet Explorer had a completely different logo design and color from what we’ve learnt to see it with. The very first image had our planet–Earth on it, symbolizing global reach and connectivity that the browser was going to promise. The wordmark “Internet Explorer’’ had green and gray colors combined.
The whole purpose of the browser was to connect people much easier and a huge difference the first logo had was that it included Microsoft's name in it. The wordmark itself was written in bold sans-serif, with a dark blue font and a green shadow that made it look more greenish.
As we move in time, we see that Microsoft made significant changes to the logo, but this first one didn’t even last a year and was seen more as a test logo than what it actually represented. Overall, since the competition was low back then, the logo still looked visually appealing to its audience.
The debate of the E: 1996-1997
Right after a year passed by, Internet Explorer got a complete makeover. While the Microsoft wordmark was still there, the browser did not debate the “E” sign, which would later symbolize it for many years to come.
The “e” with an orbiting ring was introduced with Internet Explorer 3.0 in 1996. It symbolized the internet and was designed to be simple, recognizable, and associated directly with online access.
The “E’’ debate became part of the broader antitrust investigations against Microsoft, which began in the late 1990s. Key issues here included the integration of Internet Explorer into Windows and the prominent placement of the “e” icon were seen as efforts to eliminate competition, particularly Netscape.
The “E” itself was predicted to dominate the browser market, but the only thing that would later on get removed is the name of the company itself and even the wordmark.
The removal of wordmark: 1997-2001
During the late 90s and early 2000s, a trend emerged in technology and branding: the gradual removal of Internet Explorer’s wordmarks from logos, particularly in the tech sector. Microsoft’s decision to downplay the Internet Explorer wordmark in favor of only leaving the “e’’ logo is a good example of this shift.
By the time Internet Explorer 6.0 was released, the “e’’ logo almost always stood entirely alone in most contexts, relying on its established recognition. However, the real question is why did Microsoft remove the wordmarks?
Well, this was all because Microsoft was aiming to simplify its branding, user recognition, promote cross-market adaptability, and establish a competitive differentiation.
A more refined look: 2001-2004
Similar to what it looked like before 2001, Internet Explorer made some refinements to its logo design and entirely shifted to a three-dimensional design. Introduced in 2001, this logo design had more deep blue gradients, and looked more modern compared to its predecessors. The refined blue color made it look more attractive compared to its older logo versions.
The three-dimensional era of the Internet Explorer logo reflects the browser’s consistency in looking like an innovative service for people to connect.
A new deep blue rebranding: 2004-2005
Okay, so, if there’s one thing to clarify, it’s that by 2004, a good number of people started to become active on the internet. 2004 marked a year of innovation and rebranding for Internet Explorer and now its official name was “Windows Internet Explorer”.
One of the most noticeable changes in the logo, far from the color modification, is the orbit sign surrounding the “E”. As you may notice, in the previous logo, the orbit was entirely going around the letter “E”. Now, it’s and this redesign aligned the browser with new modifications made to the browser and new features Windows released in 2004. However, even though the logo looks like one of the most attractive of all its logo designs, it only lasted for one year.
In 2005, Microsoft made some other modifications that we’ll dive deeper into.
The change of the orbit color: 2005-2011
In late 2005, Internet Explorer made a major change to its orbit sign color, which shifted from blue to yellow. If you ask many internet users which logo design they remember the most, it’ll be this one. This is because in 2005, the internet started becoming more popular and started to gain more active users much more quickly than the years before.
In fact, 2005 was the year the number of active users on the internet surpassed one billion users worldwide, so this was a major milestone that was achieved.
Overall, the yellow orbit was designed to evoke trust, reliability, and showcase a more modern aesthetic, aligning with Microsoft’s goal to connect everyone worldwide. The changes were also motivated by the rise of competitors such as Google Chrome in 2008 and Mozilla Firefox in 2004.
Revoking the old school design: 2011-2012
Between 2011 and 2012, Internet Explorer (IE) underwent a redesign that was closely related to its earlier design in the early 2000s. This shift was to try and reflect Internet Explorer’s design that was more popular and had lots of active users.
The “E” wordmark with the blue orbit will always remain a unique feature, but now, it has much smoother gradients and softer edges. While it was modernized, sadly, this logo design was only used for one year and it would later become redesigned for the last time until Internet Explorer would completely become discontinued.
With competition being so fierce in the 2010s, Microsoft was focusing on improving the performance and speed of the browser.
The final redesign: 2012-2022
Internet Explorer launched its final redesign in 2012 with the launch of Internet Explorer 10. It brought back the yellow colored orbit, and this logo remained until Microsoft decided to finally retire it and replace the browser with Microsoft Edge.
The new logo looked cleaner with a simplified and smoothed-out yellow color. Gradients and shadows were reduced significantly, reflecting a shift towards a flat design principle that gained lots of popularity in the 2010s.
The monochromatic blue color palette dominated the logo and reinforced the themes of trust, security, and professionalism. While Microsoft focused on performance and tried to make it better, sadly, the browser's reputation started to decline, and everybody started to use Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome more.
Microsoft Edge is considered the new form of Internet Explorer and was released in 2015. After Microsoft Edge was released, the company itself shifted its focus more on the new browser and left Internet Explorer behind until it retired in 2022.
The introduction of Edge: 2015-present
Microsoft Edge is a web browser that is developed by Microsoft, first released in 2015 as the default browser for Windows 10, replacing Internet Explorer. Edge was originally built on Microsoft’s proprietary EdgeHTML engine but was later rebuilt in 2020 using the open-source Chromium engine, the same platform that powers Google Chrome.
The logo looks much more modern compared to all versions of Internet Explorer. Colors include gradient blue with shades of green/cyan (Chromium Edge). The style included 3D-like curves and depth, different from IE’s flat 2D, simple shadows.
In short, it represents speed, modern browsing, and a flawless user experience. IE represented connectivity much more than it did speed, to say the least.
The rise and downfall of the legendary browser
The legendary browser was in intense competition with Netscape and dominated the market for a decade until other competitors like Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and even its own replacement, Microsoft Edge, were released.
Considering that Internet Explorer retired in 2022, its legendary history will still remain and let’s face it, it was the first browser to bring such large innovations to the online market and without it, maybe even other browsers wouldn’t be where they are today.
Above all, in the course of nearly three decades, the browser managed to make significant and successful changes to its logo design that many people can learn about for future encounters.