Many graphical operating systems represent programs and files with icons. The following are icons used for Emacs.
On 2005-11-21 new icons by AndrewZhilin? where added to Emacs. These icons use the letters E and M stylized as the horns of a gnu. The dark blue icons come in 16 and 24 pixel sizes and there is are alternatives sized 32 and 48 pixel looking like spiral-bound (paper) notebooks.
They are expected to be used by operating system distributors who combine GNU Emacs in conjuction with desktop systems like Gnome. The icons are mentioned in the FOR-RELEASE file in Emacs’s source distribution for the very purpose of noting Emacs package maintainers.
| A small 16 by 16 pixel Emacs icon. | |
| A larger 24 by 24 pixel Emacs icon. | |
| A 32 by 32 pixel Emacs icon appearing on a slanted notebook. | |
| A larger 48 by 48 pixel Emacs icon appearing on a slanted notebook. |
Emacs 23 will use OSX style icons by KentaroOhkouchi?:
| A small 16 by 16 pixel Emacs icon. | |
| A larger 24 by 24 pixel Emacs icon. | |
| A 32 by 32 pixel Emacs icon with a pen. | |
| A larger 48 by 48 pixel Emacs icon with a pen. | |
| A large 128 by 128 pixel Emacs icon with a pen. | |
| SVG file | A scalable version of the Emacs icon, by ChongYidong. |
See also EmacsLogo, EmacsPowered, EmacsWallpaper.
| Traditional overflowing kitchen sink; see the Emacs Jargon File entry | ![]() |
| Long-time icons for EmacsForWindows by Rob Davenport, the 16x16 variant visible in the taskbar was hard to recognize | ![]() |
| Proposed icon suggested by Norman Walsh (“That’s not my design on that page. I don’t have that much artistic talent. I found it on the web somewhere.”) | ![]() |
| CarbonEmacs uses the colored gnu head by Joseph W. Reiss | ![]() |
| CarbonEmacsPackage uses the OSX-style variant by K. Ohkouchi | |
| AquamacsEmacs uses the gnu head by Massimiliano Gubinelli | ![]() |
| Gentoo used to have several round versions of the gnu head. | |
| MilesBader made some very shiny raytraced icons in a vaguely OSX style (see the linked-to page for various sizes, up to 1920x1920) |