The History of the California Environmental Protection Agency

Cal/EPA Logo

• The upper and lower crescents represent the sky and the waters.
• The leaf represents the land.
• The lance-like object has dual purpose: serving to remind of the vulnerability of nature to human intervention, and representing the sword of enforcement.
• The color, green, represents nature.

The multiple visions incorporated into the design are also intended to remind of the need for humility in that people can look at the same object and discern different meanings and different symbols.

The mark was developed in 1991 by Keith Bright and Associates, a Los Angeles based design firm that specialized in corporate identity. Bright volunteered its services to the Office of the Secretary on learning that the newly formed Agency was soliciting logo design concepts in a competition among California college campus art departments and art/design schools. The logo was adopted by Cal/EPA’s first secretary, James M. Strock, and remains a visual reminder of the cross-media coordination needed to preserve a clean environment for all Californians.

Photo Credits

Formal Portrait of Building, Page 2, © David Wakely

Digital Photos of Building, Page 3, 4, 5 (top) and 6 (lower), Courtesy of City of Sacramento

Printed Version By:
American Lithography

Design:
NeoDesign, Sacramento, California

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