Icons
The strength of an icon library comes from repetition. Consistent use of Red Hat® icons—which are designed to work together and to match the visual metaphors found across our design language—builds recognition for our style and brand.
Use icons to represent general technology concepts in places like presentations, web content, infographics, and other marketing materials. They’re intended to be used at small sizes, working best for sizes between 32 and 100 pixels. If you need something larger, use an illustration.
Icon design
Our style is simple, clean, and open. All icons use the same stroke weight and corner radii, show objects from the front and use flattened perspective when possible, and are built using geometric shapes. They're available in 3 colors—red, black and white—but they can be changed to any color in our palette.
Grid and stroke
Red Hat icons are designed on a 30 pixel grid. All strokes are 1.25 point and use rounded corners and ends. Every point on every stroke aligns with the grid.
Angles
All angles are 0°, 45°, 90°, or one of those angles plus or minus 12°.
12° angles match the angle of the ascenders and descenders in our font, which builds continuity in our design language.
Key lines
Key lines guide the height and width of each icon—circular icons overshoot square icons by 1 pixel so that all icons appear the same size. Icons are saved with a 3 pixel margin for a final image size of 36 x 36 pixels.
Never use AI to generate new icons. Although AI can generate images that look similar to our icons, it lacks the knowledge of our style and the pixel precision required to make icons that are successful and recognizable.
Identified a gap in our icon library? Suggest a new one. Red Hat brand designers review submitted suggestions frequently and add new icons to the library.
Icons in use
The most common use case for icons is on presentation slides. Icons are perfect for adding a quick visual reference that reinforces the text.
Icons appear as office signage to convey a quick message without the need for words, like these door clings identifying a quiet workspace in Red Hat Tower.
Simple patterns of icons aligned in a grid can be a quick way to create a larger visual, like the pattern on this automation-themed mug.
On the web, icons can serve as decorative images in cards or lists to draw attention to the section and reinforce the text.
Icons can appear as an element in a hybrid style collage, with a backing shape behind them to prevent them from becoming lost.
Icons are paired with brief text in technical diagrams and charts to represent important system components or operations.
Not this: Don’t combine icons to create a new one; this creates inconsistent sizes and line weights. Suggest a new one instead.
Not this: Don’t rotate icons or distort their dimension.
Not this: Don’t add effects (like drop shadows or gradients) or create 3D versions of icons. Use a 3D object instead.
Not this: Don’t create multicolor versions or use icons in colors outside of the Red Hat color palette.
Not this: Don’t use other companies’ icons or download “free” icons from the internet or stock sites. They won’t match our icon style and they might have licensing restrictions.
Not this: Don’t use icons to fill a large space. Icons designed to be used between 32–100px, so they look silly when they’re too big. Use illustrations, which have more detail, to fill larger spaces.
Not this: Don’t make an icon feel cramped when they're sitting on top of a backing shape.
Creative Commons
Using a Creative Commons license lets us share our icons and UI icons with our customers, partners, and communities.
Red Hat icons are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. If you redistribute these icons, Red Hat should be given attribution. For individual uses, such as a diagram or presentation, attribution is optional.
