In 1956, it was authorized as a four-year Seoul Agricultural College, becoming Korea's only public university with the Mayor of Seoul as the founder and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education in charge of university management. As a result, 'Seoul' and the characters '農' for agriculture and '大' for university were used together as symbols to represent its status as a public university representing Seoul.

The overall shape is in the form of the character '大人' (dae-in), and the triangle represents a pen tip. This means that it is a hall of learning and truth-seeking, as well as a cradle for nurturing talents needed by the country, and also symbolizes endless development as a place for cultivating well-rounded personalities. As the mark of Seoul Metropolitan Government, it represents the image of Korea's only public university, and the upper part is in the shape of an open book, symbolizing university students reaching out to the world through academic cultivation.

The circular shape surrounded by forsythia leaves means a well-rounded personality and unity. The forsythia leaves represent the school flower of the University of Seoul. Also, forsythia is the symbolic flower of Seoul, meaning industry-academia cooperation system. The inner shape represents the harmony of 市+立+大 (city+public+university), and the sacred building (Parthenon temple shape) symbolizes the hall of learning and leap forward. The vertical, horizontal, and square shapes of the letters represent order within diverse inclusiveness.

The forsythia leaves from the old emblem were changed to a circle to match the modern sense. The concentric circles (◎) mean a well-rounded personality and unity, with the inner circle representing unity within the university and the outer circle representing the industry-academia cooperation system between the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the University of Seoul. The inner shape is the combination of 市+立+大, and the shape represents a sacred building (Parthenon temple shape), symbolizing the hall of learning and leap forward. The vertical, horizontal, and square shapes of the letters represent order within diverse inclusiveness.

The UOS emblem uses the first letter 'S' of Seoul as a motif, symbolizing the spirit of university members and the eternal development of the school. The inward flow represents the harmony and unity of professors, students, staff, and alumni. Based on the long tradition of a human-centered university, it pursues an advanced university with a progressive future vision and expresses the university's image by inheriting the spirit of the existing emblem that harmonizes humans and cities.