Google unveiled a redesign of its iconic logo on Tuesday, the fifth such modification since the search engine giant started in 1998, the company said in a blog post.

The revamped logo, displayed as a Google Doodle on its homepage, spells 'Google' in a sans-serif typeface, similar to the one being used by Google's newly created holding company, Alphabet.

The compact version of the logo, used to identify most of its apps, bids farewell to the little blue "g" icon and replaces it with a uppercase "G" coloured in blue, red, yellow and green to match the full logo.

The new brand identity "aims to make Google more accessible and useful to our users", the company said in a blog post explaining the logo.

The new logo comes three weeks after the company's surprise move to create a holding company called Alphabet to pool its many subsidiaries and separate the core web advertising business from newer ventures like driverless cars. – Reuters