Hello everyone!
January 15, 2026 will mark Wikipedia’s 25th birthday. It is an extraordinary milestone that communities plan to celebrate all year.
To support these festivities, the Wikimedia Foundation's Communications department is adding several resources to the Wikipedia 25 Meta-Wiki hub. [1]
These resources include a visual system to mark this milestone. It is inspired by the humble jigsaw puzzle piece, which has starred in the Wikipedia puzzle globe since 2003 and was the central motif of the Wikipedia 10 celebrations in 2011. [2][3] It has been used in thousands of Wikimedia applications since. We’re really excited to bring it back for the 25th birthday.
The visual system resources are ready for your use and adaptation. For Wikipedia 20, we created around 30 icons and were delighted to see volunteers make more than 100 more. This year, we are starting with 24 symbols. Step-by-step guidelines and a web tool are coming in the next few weeks to empower people to make their own icons. Let’s see how many more we can make!
We’re also announcing a grant program to allow communities to host Wikipedia 25 parties. [4] The first round of applications will be due on November 1 so that approved grants can begin in January 2026.
I’ve had the great honor of supporting both Wikipedia 15 and Wikipedia 20. These milestones are always moments of profound joy, consideration, and appreciation from within our movement and around the world. Let’s make this our biggest celebration yet! - Zack McCune
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_25
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_logo#Puzzle_globe_(2003) [3] https://ten.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design https://ten.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design#How_to_localize
[4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_25/Grants