GitHub Icons

GitHub publishes its own official logo guidelines and downloadable assets specifically for OAuth sign-in buttons, which are the recommended source if you're implementing GitHub login — they specify approved styling and usage. The icons on this page work well for general references to GitHub (like a footer link or tech-stack badge), but for an actual sign-in button, using GitHub's official assets ensures compliance with their current branding requirements.

No — these are two separate things. The SVG file itself comes from an icon library and carries that library's license (e.g. MIT), which covers using the file format and artwork. GitHub's Octocat logo is also a registered trademark, and GitHub's own logo guidelines govern how it can be displayed, regardless of what license the SVG file uses. Both need to be respected independently.

GitHub's guidelines generally require the Octocat mark to be used unaltered, though the single-color nature of the logo does make basic recoloring (e.g. to white for a dark background) common and generally accepted, unlike distorting or redrawing its actual shape. When in doubt, check GitHub's current logo usage policy directly.

This page covers the GitHub brand mark itself (the Octocat), used to represent the platform as a whole — for repository-specific interface icons like star, fork, pull request, or commit, those are typically sourced from general UI or developer icon libraries rather than GitHub's own brand assets, since those actions aren't tied to GitHub's trademark.

For standard uses like a 'Sign in with GitHub' button, a footer link, or a tech-stack badge, explicit permission usually isn't required as long as you follow their published logo guidelines — but anything implying partnership, endorsement, or affiliation with GitHub specifically may need separate approval. When in doubt, review GitHub's logo and usage policy directly.

The SVG file itself keeps the license from its source library, and terms can differ depending on which library a specific icon comes from — check the license shown on the individual icon's page. Separately, using GitHub's actual logo and brand name is still governed by GitHub's trademark policy regardless of the SVG's license, so check both before using it commercially.