Unified Digital Brand
Establish easy recognizability for digital administrative services
Until now, there has been no uniform “look and feel” for cross-governmental services and, as a result, no recognizable system for citizens to identify trustworthy government websites. This is changing with the introduction of the Unified Digital Brand, which entered the pilot phase at the end of 2024.
The modular labeling system of the Unified Digital Brand consists of the header, the domain gov.de, the figurative mark, and the KERN design system. It offers the federal government, states, and municipalities a flexible way to label their websites with recognizable elements, thereby providing orientation and preventing misinformation. In addition, the use of the digital umbrella brand conserves resources, as there is no need for individual design solutions.
Together with the Federal Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government Modernisation (BMDS) and the Unified Digital Brand coordination group, we are overseeing the piloting of the Unified Digital Brand and defining the processes for its further rollout. This also includes designing an operating model for the long-term management of the Unified Digital Brand.
Facts and figures
In the first project phase from May to July 2025: 30 interviews with members of the coordination group of the Unified Digital Brand, international experts, interested services, and pilot services.
Structured interviews with more than 20 pilot services and international experts who support comparable initiatives, such as at GOV.UK.
The number of services that incorporate at least one element of the Unified Digital Brand rose from 17 in May 2025 to 150 in January 2026.
Markus Richter, State Secretary of Federal Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government Modernisation, in his former role as CIO of the Federal Government
I am delighted that we have developed the Unified Digital Brand as a measure of the IT Planning Council and in close cooperation between the federal government, the states, and local authorities. These are small elements with a big impact.
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