The logo of the BBC has been a brand identity for the corporation and its work since the 1950s in a variety of designs. Until the introduction of a logo in 1958, the corporation had relied on its coat of arms for official documentation and correspondence, although it rarely appeared onscreen. With the increased role of television for the BBC in the 1960s, particularly after the foundation of the ITV network, the corporation used its logo to increase viewer familiarity and to standardise its image and content. The logo has since been redesigned a number of times, most recently in 2021 with the BBC blocks, a logo designed to work across media. From 1958, there have been six different BBC logos. The first logo of the network was used from 1958 to 1963, the second from 1963 to 1971, the third from 1971 to 1992, the fourth from 1988 to 1997, the fifth from 1997 to 2021,[1] while the sixth and current logo was adopted in October 2021.[2]
Before the BBC introduced its logo itself, in the form of the slanted boxes, the BBC used a variety of different symbols with which to represent itself. In printed media and corporation correspondence, it used the BBC coat of arms, while on screen, it used a different logo type. Originally, it used a stylised BBC text on early equipment, not unlike the caption that accompanied the BBC1 COW globe. This logo was rarely seen on screen, with captions containing the words "BBC Television Service" along with matching clock. In 1932, when the original reception room of the BBC Broadcasting House in London opened, a logo was laid in mosaic on the floor. This logo was merely a stylised entwining of two capital B's, one facing either direction, linked by a C in the centre. This mosaic logo is still visible on the floor today, though the area no longer serves as the BBC's main reception room.
1950s
The first 'Blocks' logo with italicised lettering, used between 1958 and 1963
In 1953, Abram Games was commissioned to design an on-air image.[3] Nicknamed the 'bat's wings',[3] it consisted of a rounded brass contraption with a tiny spinning globe in its centre, with large wing-like protrusions flanked by lightning bolts on either side. For BBC Scotland, the globe in the centre was replaced by a lion.
The first incarnation of the BBC blocks logo appeared in 1958. It consisted of square boxes with slanted letters, not unlike the first slanted logo seen in the 1960s.
1960s
The first slanted logo, introduced in 1963
In the 1960s, the main BBC logo consisted of slanted boxes with italicised bold lettering. This was introduced soon after the introduction of ITV in 1955. This type of logo would go on captions at the end of productions as well as on cameras and other equipment used by the BBC. They became important when popular BBC programmes and clips from the BBC archives were being sold to be aired on other networks and channels. It was in the early 1960s that the 'bat's wings' logo ceased to be used. It was superseded by the BBC TV logo within a circle, behind which would appear a map of Britain split into broadcast regions. This set the style for a succession of circular images. On 30 September 1963, the BBC's globe logo first appeared. This was a striped line broken in the middle by a globe, with BBC1 in block letters below it. When it appeared, the continuity announcer would say "This is BBC Television." while the globe spun. 1964 saw the creation of BBC1 and BBC2 brands, with the distinctive horizontal stripes across the screen. In April 1964, BBC2 was launched. Its logo was similar to that of BBC1, featuring the distinctive horizontal stripe, but with a large 2 in the centre with the BBC blocks beneath. As part of the publicity campaign for the new channel, artist Desmond Marwood created images of a kangaroo, named Hullabaloo with a baby named Custard in its pouch, to represent the new station. In 1969, when BBC 1 began broadcasting in colour, it introduced the 'mirror globe' logo. This logo shows a rotating globe with a rounded mirror behind giving a illusion of a map behind the globe. The model is actually Black and White, but colored blue and yellow on the TV. Below the globes there is a line and the words BBC1 COLOUR. The word 'colour' was included to remind viewers still watching in black and white to purchase a colour TV set.[1] This logo was used concurrently with the 1971 and 1988 logos until 1992.
1970s
The rounded off and slanted logo, used between 1971 and 1988
In 1971, a new softer logo was made, rounding off the boxes and making the spaces between the boxes larger. This logo was used on BBC merchandise, as well as the BBC1 idents and the BBC2 clock. More now than ever, merchandise was being branded with the logo, as more productions were being sold via the BBC's American identity, Lionheart Television. Also, records and videos were now starting to be produced and a corporate identity was getting more and more essential to ensuring that the audience knew it was authentic and that the quality programmes they were watching could be attributed to the BBC. The mirror globe began using a more ornate font in 1972. From the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, the BBC1 channel logo used several different fonts, but with each change the logo remained blue. At this time, BBC logos were mechanical models filmed by black-and-white cameras. Colour was added afterwards, electronically, rendering it simple to change the colour as needed. In 1967, BBC2 introduced a logo featuring a blue 2 with a dot in the curve of the 2 and the word COLOUR underneath. In 1979, BBC2 debuted the first-ever computer-generated logo, a 2 flanked by a double line on the side. The symbols appeared on a black background, then disappeared. This logo remained in use concurrently with the 1963 and 1988 logos until 1991.[1][4]
1980s
The underlined and final slanted logo, used between 1988 and 1997
In May 1988, the BBC produced yet another new logo. Since the last one was made, a consumer brand was becoming part of nearly every TV station and corporation at the time (and, at ITV, had been so for many years). The BBC needed a strong and unified identity, and a change of said identity was key. Michael Peters was hired to design this all-inclusive BBC identity for the corporation. They modified the then-current logo by sharpening up the parallelogram edges again and set them to an angle of 17 degrees without reducing the size of the spaces between the boxes. They also sharpened up the text to make it match the clarity of the logo itself. The typeface used was Helvetica Neue. Also, under-logo lines were added to the logo for the first time. These lines were coloured blue, red, green to reflect the three phosphors of colour cathode-ray tube television. These appeared on the BBC national-region identities from the identities' debut in 1988 and its gradual television debut over the period 1989, 1990 and 1991.
Previously, in 1986, the electronically generated BBC2 logo was updated. The number 2 was replaced with the word TWO. The letters were white, 3D letters on a white background with red striping on the T as well as green and blue striping on the W. The word TWO appeared and faded on the white background.
The rebrands of both BBC1 and BBC2 in February 1991 were also based on the then-current BBC corporate identity, when these two channels were given a total corporate look, unlike previous ways of branding the channels. BBC Radio Clwyd continued to use this logo until the station was closed in around August 1998 and the logo continued as an in-credit logo.
Variants of the 1988 BBC logo
Blue version: used in Scotland
Red version: used in Wales
Green version: used in Northern Ireland
The flag of the BBC
1990s
The straight BBC logo, used between 4 October 1997 and 19 October 2021
In the mid-1990s, when employed to rebrand BBC1, Martin Lambie-Nairn suggested that he look into the current logo choice and see what he could do, given that, the BBC at the time was also looking into the BBC brand as a whole. What he noticed, was that the BBC had a system that meant that every service or department had a different logo scheme. It had a BBC logo and the name with character. Lambie-Nairn decided to address this when he took on the project, as with all these logos, the core brand itself was severely weakened. It was also appropriate to look at the way the BBC was branded, as the BBC was about to take off in digital television and the internet, among other different ventures. After seeing a number of problems with the then-current logo, he decided that a new logo was necessary. The logo was technically unsuitable on-screen. When shrunk, it lost the lines underneath and the counters (the sections in the Bs) and also, when in colour on a colour photo, it again disappeared or parts vanished. Also, on a TV or computer, diagonals are difficult to work with as the logos pixelate, and anti-aliasing is required to make the logo work. The previous logo also followed the idea of the slanted boxes, and related the BBC back to the very first logo in the 1950s and 1960s, which was not what the corporation wanted at that time. Technically, the logo never looked comfortable next to the brand and straight letters. Finally, it was expensive to print as stationery would always have four-colour letterheads, and alongside other BBC brands could mean anything up to ten-colour letterheads and stationery.
Lambie-Nairn's solution was the BBC logo that was introduced on 4 October 1997. By straightening up the boxes and letters, it removed all the problems associated with diagonals and those associated with disappearing lines. This kept the boxes' shape, so that it would still be familiar with what people know about the BBC. The typeface used is Gill Sans, made by Eric Gill. It was chosen because it was elegant and robust and has a timeless appeal: the typeface had been created 60 years before and so avoided the typeface looking outdated at a later date. This typeface also eliminated the disappearing counters issue, as the counters of the Bs were much larger. Some of Gill's statues adorn the exterior of Broadcasting House. The logo was also designed so that anything could be added after the BBC logo, be it department, corporate, brand, TV, radio, etc. Also, by using this system, everything looked as if it came from the same organisation, and it was also easy to add new logos. This system also used only black-and-white letterheads, meaning a big cost saving to the BBC and the licence-fee payer. Beginning in 1997 and becoming more common in the 2000s, this logo was used as a brand watermark within the first few seconds or minutes of many BBC-made programmes, by fading the logo in and out near the bottom of the screen. As of 2023, this practice is rarely used, although a brief animation using the 2022 variant was shown in the beginning of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 grand final.
The only visible issue with the system was that the logo for the BBC television and radio brands did not reflect their genre or appeal to the tastes of their target audiences. Lambie-Nairn proposed to show this as personality in the idents themselves, and evidence of this can be seen in the idents for BBC One made just after the logo was introduced. The BBC One balloons were made using the new logo, with the personality device in the balloons. The BBC Two idents, the 2s remained the same but with the new logo added underneath,[1] used with CBBC logo.
The orange flag variant of the BBC between 1997 and 2021[6]
2000s and 2010s
In 2002, the BBC One balloon idents were discontinued, as was the globe. The BBC Two idents that were in use since 1991 had been discontinued shortly before. BBC One's idents were replaced with a new series known as "Rhythm & Movement", which were themed around dance and multiculturalism. Meanwhile, BBC Two shifted to new "personality"-themed idents to reflect its current programming direction, where the 2 was now depicted as a three-dimensional, anthropomorphic character. In 2006, BBC One adopted new "Circle" idents, which involved circles being formed by nature or people and their actions. The following year, BBC Two adopted a "Window on the World" theme for its idents, where the 2 symbol was now represented as a cut-out in various environments. In late-2014, the previous BBC Two idents used from 1991 were revived in honour of the channel's 50th anniversary.
In 2017, BBC One adopted a new series of idents known as "Oneness", directed by photographer Martin Parr, which feature groups of people in various locations across the UK.[7][8] In 2018, BBC Two adopted new idents with a curve theme, evoking the shape of a 2.[9]
2020s
The Reith version of the BBC logo, in use since 20 October 2021
In 2021, the BBC began to phase in the first modification to its corporate logo in 24 years. Whilst still featuring the same basic form of its predecessor, the blocks were given more space between them and slightly smaller lettering, and the typeface was changed from Gill Sans to the BBC's current corporate typeface BBC Reith Sans.[10]
The logo was soft launched by the BBC Select streaming service in North America and BBC Kids channel in Australia. Eventually, the Reith blocks were officially adopted by most of the BBC's domestic television services on 20 October 2021, as part of a major corporate rebranding designed to create a more cohesive and consistent identity between the BBC's platforms and outlets.[11] The rollout was expected to be completed in 2022 in anticipation of the BBC's 100th anniversary.[12][13]
The initial launch included new on-air presentation elements for the BBC's television services—codenamed "Chameleon"[14]—including new wordmark logos also using the font, and use of the blocks as part of new animated transitions (framed by the BBC logo and channel name at the top and bottom centre of the screen respectively).[12][13] Specific BBC services, such as iPlayer, News, Sounds, and Sport have new icon logos, formed from arrangements of three rectangles representing the blocks.[13][11] Most existing idents were retained on the 20 October 2021 launch, although with modifications to suit the new transitions. BBC Three returned to linear television in 2022, with its new idents centred around a trio of personified, animated hands.[15]
BBC One launched its Lens idents on 1 April 2022; developed by BBC Creative and London based branding agency ManvsMachine, the idents feature scenes of activities in community spaces, with a circular "lens" effect revealing scenes of other activities taking place at the same location at different times of the day.[16] On 15 March 2023, CBBC and CBeebies introduced new logos and idents incorporating the new branding scheme, with CBBC's idents featuring abstract scenes involving three snake-like "flooms" personifying the blocks,[17] and CBeebies adopting its first-ever new logo, updating its traditional "bug" mascots with a more square-like shape to personify the blocks.[18] In April 2023, concurrent with the unification of the BBC News channel with BBC World News, the channel also migrated to the "Chameleon" scheme for promos and its trademark "countdown" sequence.[19]
As of January 2024, a few departments of the BBC (e.g. BBC Film) still retain the old logo.
The new BBC logo designs have not been without controversy, reportedly costing more than £7.26 million of the broadcaster's hypothecated tax revenue, and with many pundits commenting that the new designs are barely distinguishable from their immediate predecessors.[20]
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and documentaries. BBC Two has a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream and popular BBC One.
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, primetime drama and entertainment, and live BBC Sport events.
BBC Prime was the BBC's general entertainment TV channel in Europe, Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Asia Pacific from 30 January 1995 until 11 November 2009, when it was replaced by BBC Entertainment.
BBC Children's and Education is the BBC division responsible for media content for children in the UK. Since the launch of specially dedicated television channels in 2002, the services have been marketed under two brands. CBBC is aimed at children aged between 6 and 12, and CBeebies offers content for younger viewers.
This is a timeline of the history of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
The BBC One Balloon idents were a series of idents used on the British TV channel BBC One from 4 October 1997 to 28 March 2002. The balloon theme replaced the computer-generated spinning globe that had been used as the main ident on the channel since 1991, and marked a radical departure from the traditional spinning globe which had been the channel's primary identity since 1963. It launched on the same day as a BBC-wide rebrand, and thus the new idents also carried the new BBC logo. The channel's name also changed from BBC1 to BBC One. This was the last ident set used by the channel when it fully closed down; the last proper closedown took place in the evening hours of 8 November 1997. Starting the following evening, BBC News 24 would broadcast on BBC One during closedown, which continues today.
The Noddy was a camera system used for generating idents for the BBC One and BBC Two television channels from late 1963 to February 1985.
The history of BBC television idents begins in the early 1950s when the BBC first displayed a logo between programmes to identify its service. As new technology has become available, these devices have evolved from simple still black and white images to the sophisticated full colour short films seen today. With the arrival of digital services in the United Kingdom, and with them many more new channels, branding is perceived by broadcasters to be much more important, meaning that idents need to stand out from the competition.
The Computer Originated World (COW) was the method of creating the BBC1 symbol that was used between 18 February 1985 and 16 February 1991. It was later used by the international, commercial television service BBC World Service Television from its launch until 26 January 1995.
The BBC Two 1991–2001 idents were broadcast from 16 February 1991 until 19 November 2001, and again from 9 July 2014 until 26 September 2018, on BBC Two in the United Kingdom. The idents, which consisted of a sans-serif '2' in Gill Sans, accompanied by the colour viridian, were created by branding agency Lambie-Nairn, who also created the Channel 4 logo.
The "Virtual Globe" was the method of creating the BBC1 symbol that was used between 16 February 1991 and 4 October 1997.
Martin John Lambie-Nairn was an English designer. He was the founder of his branding agency Lambie-Nairn and was the creative director of branding agency ML-N. He is recognised for having redefined television brand identity design, being the first to embrace computer technologies to apply branding to screen-based media.
The BBC TwoPersonality idents were a set of idents used on BBC Two from 19 November 2001 until 18 February 2007. The idents were produced by the Lambie-Nairn branding agency, who had created the previous look. The idents feature an ivory sans serif white '2' in a yellow environment and performing a variety of tasks, and a purple boxed BBC Two logo.
BBC Schools, also known as BBC for Schools and Colleges or BBC Education, is the educational programming strand set up by the BBC in 1957, broadcasting a range of educational programmes for children aged 5–16. From launch until June 1983, programming was based on BBC1 during the daytime, apart from coverage of major news events which saw the programmes shifted to BBC2. In September 1983, programming was transferred permanently to BBC2 freeing BBC1 to develop its own daytime schedule. The strand, named Daytime on Two, remained on BBC Two until March 2010, later supplemented by the 'Class TV' strand on CBBC.
BBC One used a number of different idents from the time of the station launch on 2 November 1936 until the station took on the Mirror Globe Idents on 15 November 1969.
The launch ident was a television station identification used by BBC Two between their launch night in 1964 and the introduction of colour in 1967.
Throughout the years, Children's BBC, and later CBBC and CBeebies, have used a number of different identities. The branding of the stranded service is distinctive both in the past and at present.
The presentation and the identities of the BBC News channel in the UK alongside its international counterpart and the BBC Parliament coverage channel use specific identities that demonstrate their remit and purpose.
This is a timeline of the broadcasting of schools programmes on television in the UK.
This is a timeline of the history of the broadcasting of children's programmes on BBC Television.
1 2 "60 years since 'bat's wings' became first BBC TV symbol". BBC. 2 December 2013. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020. Sixty years ago today [i.e. on 2 December 1953] the BBC unveiled its first "television symbol" [..] The device known popularly as "the bat's wings" (or, in some hostile newspapers, simply as "the thing") was the solution [..] the man who won the commission was [..] Abram Games.
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