What is the name of the shell shown in the Shell logo?

The shell shown in the Shell logo is a pecten, commonly called a scallop shell.

Royal Dutch Shell adopted a shell symbol in the early twentieth century, and the design became a practical visual identity for the company’s petrol stations and products. The specific pecten form is associated with the genus Pecten, a group of scallops with ribbed fan-shaped shells.

The logo’s strong red-and-yellow colours are especially associated with Shell’s modern branding. Raymond Loewy created the widely influential version introduced in 1971, simplifying the shape while preserving the radial ribs and crown-like outline. Shell later used the shell symbol without the company name because it had become recognizable on its own.

The emblem is sometimes called a conch because “shell” is a broad everyday word, but a conch is a different type of marine shell. “Pecten” is the precise logo description used in the company’s branding history.