The Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken logo, representing the shared brand of Germany’s cooperative banks, consists of a graphic symbol and the name set to the right in two lines of large blue sans-serif type. The symbol is rectangular, with a large blue upper section and a narrow orange band at the bottom, separated by a white horizontal stripe. Inside is a white symbol based on the letter V: its left side has broad, angular contours, while the right side ends in a smooth curve with a small rounded cut-out. The lower part of the symbol appears cropped by the edge of the mark and sits flush with its bottom border. The history of the symbol brings together two traditions in cooperative banking: the winged V of the Volksbanken and the crossed horse heads of the Raiffeisenbanken. The first combined symbol appeared in 1972. In 1990, the V was redesigned and a blue-and-orange band was added, and in 2001 the two elements were merged into a single mark while retaining the main features of the earlier symbols.
Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken is the shared brand of a network of independent cooperative banks in Germany. Each Volksbank or Raiffeisenbank is legally and economically independent, operates mainly in its own region and is owned by its members under the cooperative model. The roots of the system go back to the mid-19th century and are associated with Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch and Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, who developed credit cooperatives to provide mutual financial support for craftspeople, entrepreneurs and rural communities. Today, the system includes hundreds of banks across Germany, while the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken brand brings them together in a nationwide banking network within the Genossenschaftliche FinanzGruppe Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken.
