Google’s latest favicon - circa 2009

Google changed their favicon once more. Above you can see the recent history of this icon showing in the address bar and elsewhere. The new design consists of four color areas – blue, red, green and yellow – overlaid by a lowercase white “g”. The last change of Google favicon happened in May 2008.

A favicon is a small image that is generally used to reflect the identity of a web site. You can find it in the address bar, in your browser's tabs, in the list of bookmarks or in some feed readers like Bloglines.

André Resende, a computer science undergraduate student at the University of Campinas in Brazil, submitted the design that inspired Google new favicon: His placement of a white 'g' on a color-blocked background was highly recognizable and attractive, while seeming to capture the essence of Google.