The Universitas Indonesia logo was created in 1952 by Sumaxtono (his real name was Sumartono) a Faculty of Engineering Design Art student of 1951, Universiteit Indonesia, Bandung. The basic idea of the logo is kala-makara, which are the two forces in nature: kala, the force from above (the force of the sun) and makara, the force from below (the force of the earth). Sumaxtono combined and stylized these forces to create the makara which symbolises Universitas Indonesia as the source of knowledge as well as the fruit of knowledge which is disseminated in all directions.

The logo of Universitas Indonesia consists of two elements which are: a tree with branches and the makara.

The meaning of the logo is as follows:

The tree with its branches and buds symbolises the tree of knowledge with its different branches of knowledge, while the buds will one day bloom to become new branches of knowledge. The buds will continue to bloom for as long as the tree of knowledge lives. In that Sumaxtono intended to declare that the branches of knowledge will develop according to our needs and progress in time.

The makara which pours out water symbolizes the output which flows in every direction. The meaning given by Sumaxtono was that Universitas Indonesia as the source of knowledge, produces graduates who are intelligent, skillful, faithful and have high integrity and personality. They are also  open, responsive to change and the progress of knowledge and technology and the issues faced by the people and have the capability to solve these issues in accordance with their scholarly principles, where ever they are.

The following design and its significance was revealed by Sumaxtono to Srihadi (another 1952 student from the Faculty of Engineering, Visual Arts Department, Universiteit Indonesia, Bandung). Prof. KRHT H. Srihadi Soedarsono Adhikoesoemo, M.A. who designed the logo for Institute Teknologi Bandung (the Bandung Institute of Technology) does not know when and where the logo was made official. What is certain is that the cover of the book Universiteit Indonesia, Fakulteit Teknik, Bandung: Rentjana Untuk Tahun Peladjaran 1952-1953[1952-1953 Academic Year Plan] (AID Publishing, Bandung, 120 pages) used the logo created by Sumaxtono for Universitas Indonesia for the first time (without the pentagon frame of the current logo).