Ukraine has unveiled the national typeface Zakon. It was created based on the Ukrainian artistic tradition. The Ministry of Culture of Ukraine reported this on October 29, UNN writes.
Details
"The new national typeface Zakon was presented publicly for the first time in Kyiv. It was developed by Ukrainian designers based on the historical heritage of the country's lettering tradition. The new typeface is intended to establish Ukrainian identity in the state's visual space and gradually replace typefaces of Russian origin in official documents," the Ministry of Culture noted.
The development of a national typeface is provided for by Resolution No. 4764-IX of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine dated January 2026, "On Strengthening the Role of the Ukrainian Language in Establishing the Ukrainian State."
"We continue to establish Ukrainian identity in the visual space. The creation of a national typeface is an important step toward ensuring that state institutions represent Ukraine through our artistic tradition and contemporary Ukrainian design. A typeface is part of a state's recognizable image. Through the form of its letters, it conveys the character of our culture and makes it present in everyday life. We seek to ensure that Ukrainian design shapes the image of our state and that cultural heritage becomes a source of new solutions," said Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy — Minister of Culture of Ukraine Tetiana Berezhna.
What the typeface is for
The initiative, the Ministry of Culture noted, is aimed at creating the state institutions' own visual language. After all, certificates, letters of appreciation, diplomas, awards, and plaques are still designed using typefaces of Russian origin, including Izhitsa and Petersburg, as well as typefaces Cyrillicized by the Russian studio ParaType.
The Ukrainian typeface tradition in contemporary design
Zakon is a classic Ukrainian antiqua that combines national graphic traditions with modern requirements for document design.
The development was based on the legacy of six outstanding masters of Ukrainian lettering. Heorhii Narbut was the author of the first Ukrainian banknotes and the coat of arms of the Ukrainian State under Hetman Skoropadskyi, and one of the founders of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts. Many of his typographic solutions remain part of Ukrainian identity to this day.
Vasyl Krychevskyi was the author of the coat of arms of the Ukrainian People's Republic and left a significant typographic legacy.
Yakiv Hnizdovskyi lived in emigration but sought to bring the Ukrainian alphabet closer to the Western typographic tradition. His work also helped contemporary masters.
Robert Lisovskyi was a graphic artist, a master of Ukrainian book type, and a follower of Mykhailo Boichuk and Heorhii Narbut.
During the Soviet era, Vasyl Khomenko created a Ukrainian typeface that was used virtually until the end of the Soviet Union.
Vasyl Chebanyk is a luminary of contemporary calligraphy who designed the ceremonial copy of the Constitution of Ukraine and left a rich typographic legacy.
The typeface incorporates characteristic features of Ukrainian graphics: asymmetrical serifs, diamond-shaped dots above the letters "і" and "ї," and the distinctive mark above "й" in the tradition of Heorhii Narbut. Its proportions also draw on the European tradition of classical antiqua typefaces.
Four Ukrainian type designers worked on the creation of Zakon:
- Oleksii Chekal is a calligrapher, a research fellow at the Museum of Books and Printing of Ukraine, and the author of typefaces for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine;
- Hennadii Zarechniuk is a researcher of Ukraine's typographic heritage and a co-author of the Kobzar KS, Zahar, and Dnipro typefaces;
- Dmytro Rastvortsev is the author of the e-Ukraine typeface and a co-author of UAF Sans for the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
- Andrii Shevchenko is the author of the Arsenal typeface, which won a competition for a contemporary Ukrainian typeface for official business use.
The project manager is Taras Ishchyk, a serviceman and the author of the graphic style of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Three typefaces for the state's different needs
The Zakon typeface family consists of three typefaces:
- Zakon Text is intended for office work, official documents, and everyday text work. It is freely available for use;
- Zakon Decor was created for designing ceremonial documents, awards, and inscriptions;
- Zakon Letterpress is intended for printing original copies of regulatory and legal acts of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
The two latest typefaces are available under a closed license to a limited number of users. The font includes four styles: Regular, Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic.
How the national font will be implemented
The transition to Zakon will take place gradually, without additional costs for the mass replacement of existing signs, forms, and other materials.
After the presentation, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine will provide government institutions with the font and instructions for installing it. At the first stage, Zakon Text will be tested during the preparation of letters, orders, forms, and other documents. The feedback received will help the developers improve the font.
At the same time, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine is working to make Zakon the font used for the official publication of regulatory legal acts.
You can learn more about the national font, download it, and leave feedback on the website of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.