What is the shape of the Kate Spade logo?

The shape of the Kate Spade logo is a spade. The symbol appears above or alongside the brand name and references the playing-card suit that also appears in Kate Spade’s surname.

Kate Spade New York was founded in January 1993 by Kate Spade, Andy Spade, Elyce Arons, and Pamela Bell. The company began with handbags, so a compact, recognizable mark was especially useful on bags, labels, packaging, and hardware.

The logo is sometimes confused with a heart, club, or other card-suit symbol because the four suits share simple geometric outlines. A spade, however, has a pointed upper section and a stem at the bottom. The exact logo treatment has varied across products and periods, but the identifying symbol remains the spade.

A related detail is that the company name was chosen before Kate Spade married Andy Spade: she was born Katherine Noel Brosnahan and adopted the Spade name after their marriage.