The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) is one of the world's largest open source foundations, overseeing more than 250 software projects used by billions of people globally.
Founded in 1999, the organization operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, providing legal protection and infrastructure for volunteer-driven software development.
The foundation's projects include critical internet infrastructure like the Apache HTTP Server, which powers approximately 30% of all websites worldwide. Other major projects include Apache Spark for big data processing, Apache Kafka for streaming data, and Apache Hadoop for distributed storage and computing.
The feather logo debuted in 1999 when The Apache Software Foundation officially formed, and before that, the original version appeared in the Apache HTTP Server project in 1997.
In contrast, the new oak leaf design aims to better represent the foundation's "community over code" ethos while addressing cultural sensitivity concerns. You see, indigenous advocacy groups, including Natives in Tech, raised concerns about cultural appropriation of Native American imagery.
They argued that non-Indigenous organizations should not use Indigenous themes or cultural elements in their branding and corporate identity.
Luckily, the rebrand addresses those issues, and the new oak leaf design fits perfectly with ASF's forest metaphor, where eight founders "planted an acorn" in the 1990s that grew into today's vast ecosystem. Plus, ASF says that oak trees symbolize endurance, community stewardship, and distributed networks through their leaf vein patterns.
However, the foundation will retain the "Apache" name despite cultural concerns. They cite massive legal complications, multi-year implementation, hefty costs, and security risks to global software infrastructure that would result from changing their established apache.org domain.
If you ask me, the new logo perfectly depicts what the foundation does. I love the colorways used, and the A and H in the new logo kind of look like a Tepee, a type of housing used by the native people of America and Canada.
For more details on how this logo was created, you should read the announcement blog linked above.
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