You may have noticed over the past few days that we revealed a new Baltimore City Health Department logo. The logo change is part of a larger rebranding strategy to standardize our image across the entire agency.

Over the past six months, the communications team analyzed our internal and external documents as well as evaluated the core values of the agency. The result was a refined vision and mission statement grounded in equity, community, and wellbeing:

Vision: An equitable, just, and well Baltimore where everyone has the opportunity to be healthy and to thrive.

Mission: To protect health, eliminate disparities, and ensure the wellbeing of every Baltimorean through education, advocacy, and direct service delivery.

The main goal of the agency rebranding is to standardize our communications, which allows us to build recognition, connections, and trust in our communities. BCHD has been operating since 1793. From its inception, the department has grown from addressing yellow fever outbreaks to the expanse of our work today: animal control, restaurant inspections, violence prevention, HIV/STDs, lead poisoning prevention—the list goes on.

Over the years, as our divisions and programs expanded, different versions of our logo proliferated. As a result, few people were able to identify our agency and programs based on the logo. Our old logo was hard to read, especially when made smaller.

By creating a new logo that is modern, simple, and clear to read, we have made it much easier for our communities to know who we are when they see our documentation, regardless of what part of the agency is producing the resource.

The most visual change with the new logo was updating from the “crest” to a combination mark of typography and icon. The typography base is modern and simple, which makes it easy to read, even at a small size. We wanted to emphasize the idea of “City Health,” and even more specifically “Health,” which is why it is the only word in the light teal blue color. The icon is based on the Rod of Asclepius, which pays homage to our original logo and references the ancient Greek god of medicine and healing. We maintained the connection to Baltimore with black and gold colors and added the teal blue as an accent that nods to the public health community. 

The rebrand was spearheaded by the BCHD Communications team: Michelle Mendes, Communications Director; Sean Naron, Public Information Officer; and Kelsey Krach, Baltimore Corps Public Health Communications and Policy Engagement Fellow, with support from Ryan Bruchey, Vice President, Brand Communications Manager, T. Rowe Price.

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