BBC


 * BBC Cult
 * BBC Logo Gallery, 625.uk.com
 * The BBC logo history
 * TV Ark

1922–1932


BBC First Started in 1922 as Electronic, This Logo was the BBC Coat of Arms

1932–1958


In August 1932, BBC Started Television

1958–1962


The first version of the boxed logo appeared on the television ident in 1962. The boxes were upright squares while the letters were slanted.

1962–1972


Soon the boxes became slanted.

1972–1991


The BBC logo was the same as before but altered slightly by letting the boxes have rounded corners.

During the 1970s, the corporate logo was gradually phased out on television in favour of specific logos for BBC1 and BBC2. Even though 1986 introduced a new logo with coloured lines this logo was still used until the beginning of the 1990's.

1991–1997


A new corporate logo was adopted in 1986. It was designed by Michael Peters. The coloured lines under the logo could respresent both the three out of four colours of the television picture, as well as the colours for the UK nations, England (white), Scotland (blue), Wales (red) and Northern Ireland (green). The logo for BBC Scotland, BBC Wales and BBC Northern Ireland had all lines in the national colour.

This logo wasn't seen in television idents until 1991, when both BBC1 and BBC2 were overhauled.

1997–present


In October 1997, the BBC was due to launch several new digital channels, and a need to oversee the corporation's image was identified. The old BBC logo was problematic in several ways. It didn't work on screen, the underlying lines and the counters would disappear if it was rendered at a small size. The diagonal logo didn't work alongside upright fonts. There were also many different logos for the different services, brands and departments in the BBC, and they weren't following a consistent theme. Around approximately two new logos were being created a week and multi-coloured letterheads were costing a large amount to use.

Lambie-Nairn created a new single-colour corporate logo where the boxes and the lettering had been straightened up and the lines abolished. "BBC" was written in the Gill Sans font.

All logos for the various BBC services would now follow a consistent scheme with the service name written in Gill Sans to the left of the BBC logo. The values and personality of the different service brands would be communicated in other ways. The single colour logos saved millions of pounds in the years they were used, saving costs on printing. The new style allowed any brand or department of the BBC to create a logo by typing the name of their brand next to the BBC logo.

The new logo made its debut on October 4, 1997 on all BBC services.