ontario logo 2006

Doug Ford's government is redesigning the Ontario trillium logo

In his seemingly unending quest to change as much as humanly possible during his time in power, Ontario Premier Doug Ford is redesigning the province's (admittedly reviled) trillium logo.

The current logo, commissioned by Dalton McGuinty's Liberal government in 2006, has long been said by critics to look like an overhead view of three people lounging in a hot tub. Once you see it, you can't unsee it.

Because of this, many in the province still colloquially refer to the 13-year-old emblem as the "three men in a hot tub" Ontario trillium.

Ford isn't having it — not in his Ontario and not on your new licence plate.

"A new Ontario logo will be included on Ontario’s licence plates as part of a wider refresh of how Ontario licence plates are produced," said an unnamed senior government official to The Star on Thursday afternoon.

"The work associated with the logo redesign amounted to $89,000, which is less than half of what the Liberals spent on the previous logo," continued the source, making a fair point: the government paid about $219,000 for its hot tub flower in 2006.

No word yet on what the new logo will look like or who's designing it, but the source does say it will still be a trillium.

The new emblem is expected to be revealed next Thursday as part of Finance Minister Vic Fedelli's first provincial budget alongside a new standard licence plate slogan.

"Yours to Discover," which has been used in Ontario for 37 years, is getting the boot, but — contrary to some horrible rumours — "Open for business" is only being considered for commercial plates.

We still have no idea what the province's new slogan is going to be, but boy is it ever fun to guess.

Lead photo by

Ontario Ministry of Transportation


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