# Trademarks and icons

> Page: https://docs.plotwork.dev/trademarks-and-icons. Index of every page: https://docs.plotwork.dev/llms.txt

Plotwork draws the official AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud architecture icons exactly as each company publishes them, to depict those companies' services in architecture diagrams. This page says who owns the icons, quotes what each company says about using them, and lists what to keep in mind when you use a Plotwork picture. It describes how Plotwork behaves and is not legal advice.

## TL;DR

| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What are the icons? | The official architecture icons that AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud publish for diagrams and documentation. When a diagram names a product, such as `icon=aws:lambda`, Plotwork draws the company's icon if it carries one for that product. |
| Who owns them? | Each company. AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and the names, logos, and icons of other providers are trademarks of their respective owners. Plotwork is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of them. |
| Can I use them in my diagrams? | Yes. Architecture diagrams and documentation are the uses all three companies describe. Keep the product name next to the icon and do not change the artwork. |
| What does Plotwork do to them? | Nothing. It draws each file as the company published it: in its original colors, whole, and on a light tile in both themes. |
| Who do I ask about other uses? | The company that owns the icon. Plotwork cannot give permission for artwork that belongs to someone else. |
| Can I use the Plotwork logo? | Yes, to refer to Plotwork. Download it from the [brand kit](https://plotwork.dev/brand) and follow its rules. See [The Plotwork logo](#the-plotwork-logo). |

## What Plotwork does

When Plotwork carries an official icon for a product, the product draws that icon. Every other product draws a glyph for its kind of service, such as a function or a queue, and the label says whose product it is. The icon names, the search, and the validation work the same either way, so a diagram means the same thing with or without the artwork.

Plotwork follows the strictest reading of the three companies' wording:

| Plotwork | What it means |
|---|---|
| Draws the file as published | The company's SVG file is stored byte for byte and drawn as an image. Plotwork does not redraw, trace, or edit it. |
| Keeps the original colors | No theme color reaches the artwork, so dark mode does not recolor it. |
| Draws it whole | The icon is never cropped, flipped, rotated, stretched, or distorted, and it keeps its own proportions. |
| Puts it on a light tile | The tile is the same in light and dark, so the icon stays legible on a dark page. The tile belongs to the node, not to the artwork. |
| Draws it in a labeled node | Every node carries a label, and the label is where the product name goes. |

The Plotwork MCP package, [`@buun_group/plotwork-mcp`](https://github.com/plotwork-official/plotwork-mcp), is MIT licensed. That license covers Plotwork's own code in the package. The vendor artwork is not part of it and stays under each company's own terms. The hosted Plotwork service is not open source.

Every page of the Plotwork websites carries this notice:

> AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and the names, logos, and icons of other providers are trademarks of their respective owners. Plotwork uses them only to depict those providers' services in architecture diagrams, shows the official icons unmodified, and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of them.

## The vendors' own wording

Each company sets its own terms for its icons. The sentences below are copied from the company's pages, each with a link to the page it comes from. Read the page itself before you rely on a summary, including the one under each quote.

### Amazon Web Services

- Pack: AWS Architecture Icons, release 07312026
- Retrieved: 2026-10-09
- Page: [AWS architecture icons](https://aws.amazon.com/architecture/icons/)

AWS says on its [architecture icons page](https://aws.amazon.com/architecture/icons/):

> "We allow customers and partners to use these toolkits and assets to create architecture diagrams."

> "You can also put icons in materials like whitepapers, presentations, data sheets, and posters."

The same page adds a note about versions:

> "Check that you’re using up-to-date icons, because some libraries may contain legacy icon sets."

The [AWS trademark guidelines](https://aws.amazon.com/trademark-guidelines/) say, in this excerpt:

> "You will not alter the logo images in any manner, including but not limited to changing the proportion, color"

What this means for a diagram: an architecture diagram or a document drawn with Plotwork is the use AWS describes. Plotwork does not alter the icons, and a picture you export should not alter them either.

### Microsoft Azure

- Pack: Azure Public Service Icons V24
- Retrieved: 2026-10-09
- Page: [Azure architecture icons](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/icons/)

Microsoft says on its [Azure architecture icons page](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/icons/):

> "Microsoft permits the use of these icons in architectural diagrams, training materials, or documentation. You can copy, distribute, and display the icons only for the permitted use unless granted explicit permission by Microsoft. Microsoft reserves all other rights."

Its guidance on what to do:

> "Use the icon to illustrate how products can work together."
>
> "In diagrams, we recommend including the product name somewhere close to the icon."
>
> "Use the icons as they would appear within Azure."

Its guidance on what not to do:

> "Don't crop, flip, or rotate icons."
>
> "Don't distort or change icon shape in any way."
>
> "Don't use Microsoft product icons to represent your product or service."

What this means for a diagram: architecture diagrams and documentation are uses Microsoft permits, and a Plotwork diagram is one. Plotwork draws each icon as it appears within Azure and never crops, flips, rotates, or distorts it. Name the product in the label so the name sits close to the icon, and do not use an Azure icon to stand for your own product.

### Google Cloud

- Pack: Google Cloud product icons (core and category)
- Retrieved: 2026-10-09
- Page: [Google Cloud icons](https://cloud.google.com/icons)

Google says on its [Google Cloud icons page](https://cloud.google.com/icons):

> "Welcome to the official library for Google Cloud product icons. Here you can find the Google Cloud product icons you need for your diagrams, technical documentation, and more."

What this means for a diagram: Google Cloud offers its icons for diagrams and technical documentation, which is what a Plotwork architecture diagram is. Read the terms on the page before you use the artwork for anything beyond diagrams and documentation.

## Using the icons in your own work

These rules apply to a picture you draw with Plotwork and then publish.

| Rule | Why |
|---|---|
| Keep the product name near the icon. Put it in the node's label, such as `node db database "Azure Cosmos DB" icon=azure:cosmos-db`. | Microsoft recommends it, and a reader should know whose product an icon stands for. |
| Leave the artwork as Plotwork draws it. Do not recolor, crop, flip, rotate, or stretch an icon, and do not edit an exported SVG to do so. | AWS and Microsoft ask for unmodified icons, and Plotwork applies the same rule to all three. |
| Do not use a vendor's icon to represent your own product or service. | Microsoft says so, and an icon standing for something else suggests a connection with the company that does not exist. |
| Check the vendor's terms before you use a picture outside architecture diagrams and documentation, such as in marketing material or a product's user interface. | The pages quoted above describe diagrams and documentation. They do not cover every use, and Microsoft reserves all other rights. |

## Other providers

The other provider sets are not official vendor packs. Plotwork draws a mark from an open-licensed set where one exists, and a glyph for the kind of service everywhere else. A license on an image never licenses a trademark, so these marks also remain the property of their owners.

| Provider | What Plotwork draws | Source and license |
|---|---|---|
| Alibaba Cloud | The Alibaba Cloud mark. Every other product draws a glyph for its kind of service. | The mark is from Simple Icons (CC0 1.0). The glyphs are from IBM Carbon (Apache-2.0) and Lucide (ISC). |
| Oracle Cloud Infrastructure | A glyph for the kind of service on every product, and no Oracle mark. Simple Icons removed the Oracle marks over trademark permission, so none is bundled. | The glyphs are from IBM Carbon (Apache-2.0) and Lucide (ISC). |
| IBM Cloud | IBM's own Carbon pictograms for the products it lists. | IBM Carbon (Apache-2.0). IBM's trademark rules for the IBM logo still apply. |
| Cloudflare | The Cloudflare, Workers, and Pages marks. Cloudflare publishes no icon pack that may be bundled, so every other product draws a glyph: the glyph for its kind of service, or a glyph chosen for the product. No artwork is drawn for a product that has no licensed mark. | The marks are from Simple Icons (CC0 1.0). The glyphs are from IBM Carbon (Apache-2.0) and Lucide (ISC). |
| DigitalOcean | The DigitalOcean mark. Every other product draws a glyph for its kind of service. | The mark is from Simple Icons (CC0 1.0). The glyphs are from IBM Carbon (Apache-2.0) and Lucide (ISC). |
| Vercel | The Vercel mark. Every other product draws a glyph for its kind of service. | The mark is from Simple Icons (CC0 1.0). The glyphs are from IBM Carbon (Apache-2.0) and Lucide (ISC). |
| Technology and brand logos such as PostgreSQL, Kubernetes, Claude, and Resend (`simple:`) | The logo, as an optional mark on a node. A Simple Icons mark takes the tone of its node. | Simple Icons (CC0 1.0). Each logo remains a trademark of its owner. |
| Brand logos that Simple Icons does not publish, such as OpenAI, Slack, and Twilio (`simple:`) | The full colour logo, drawn unmodified, in its own colors, on a light tile. | SVG Logos (CC0 1.0). A CC0 dedication does not license a trademark: each logo remains a trademark of its owner. |
| General icons (`lucide:`) | Plain glyphs such as a database or a lock. | Lucide (ISC). |

Where an AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud product has no official icon in Plotwork, it draws a glyph for its kind of service. A few Google Cloud products without an official icon draw their mark from Simple Icons (CC0 1.0) instead.

The Plotwork site, docs, and portal show the marks of the AI clients and tools Plotwork works with, such as Cursor, GitHub, and Notion, beside each one's name, so a reader finds the step for their product. They are drawn unmodified in one ink. The client marks are from Lobe Icons (MIT), and the VS Code mark from Codicons (CC BY 4.0). The tool marks are from Simple Icons (CC0 1.0), and Slack and Microsoft Teams, which Simple Icons does not publish, from Boxicons (MIT). Each mark remains a trademark of its owner, and showing it does not mean the owner endorses Plotwork.

## The Plotwork logo

The Plotwork name and logo belong to Buun Group Pty Ltd. The [brand kit](https://plotwork.dev/brand) has the logo, the animated logo, the colours, and the type, with the rules for using them. You may use those files to refer to Plotwork, for example in an article, a talk, or a list of integrations, as long as the use does not suggest that Plotwork made, sponsors, or endorses your product. Write to legal@buungroup.com for press and permission questions.

## Removal requests

Plotwork changes or removes an icon when the owner of its mark asks. Taking an official AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud icon out changes no diagram, because icon names, search, and validation do not depend on the artwork: a product whose official icon is removed draws the glyph for its kind of service, and the diagram stays valid.

To ask, [open an issue](https://github.com/plotwork-official/plotwork-mcp/issues) on the public repository of the MCP package. Say which icon or mark it is and which company you speak for. The owner of a mark may also write to the legal address of Buun Group Pty Ltd, legal@buungroup.com.

## See also

| Page | Why |
|---|---|
| [Cloud architecture](https://docs.plotwork.dev/cloud-architecture.md) | How to draw an AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud architecture with typed groups and product icons |
| [Icon reference](https://docs.plotwork.dev/reference/icons.md) | Every icon set, and how a name such as `aws:lambda` resolves |
| [Writing diagrams](https://docs.plotwork.dev/writing-diagrams.md) | The language by example |
| [Brand kit](https://plotwork.dev/brand) | The Plotwork logo, colours, and type to download, with the rules for using them |