The BBC is a British public service broadcaster founded on 18 October 1922. Its headquarters are at Broadcasting House in Westminster, London, and it is the world's oldest national broadcasting organisation. Besides the UK, it is the most well-known public broadcaster in the world, with a worldwide presence.
British Broadcasting Company
1922–1924
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On 18 October 1922, the BBC was founded as the British Broadcasting Company.
1924–1927
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British Broadcasting Corporation
1927–1946
On 1 January 1927, the British Broadcasting Company was renamed to the British Broadcasting Corporation when it was granted a royal charter. Sir John Reith becomes the first Director-General.
1946–1953
1953–1960
Designer:
Abram Games
Typography:
Unknown
Launched:
2 December 1953
In 1953, Abram Games was commissioned to design an on-air image. The first proper logo for the BBC was unveiled on 2 December 1953, consisting of this elaborate mechanical device designed by Abram Games. For obvious reasons, it came to be nicknamed the "Bat's Wings".
1958–1963
Designer:
Abram Games
Typography:
Old Gothic Bold Italic
Launched:
22 September 1958
The first incarnation of the BBC "blocks" logo was created in 1958. This logo consisted of square boxes with "BBC" in italics inside them.
1963–1992
Designer:
Abram Games
Typography:
Old Gothic Bold Italic
Launched:
30 September 1963
On 30 September 1963, the boxes were also made slanted like the letters. This type of logo would go on captions at the end of productions as well as on cameras and other equipment. 1964 saw the creation of both of its channels BBC1 and BBC2, with the distinctive horizontal stripes across the screen. This logo and the 1971 logo continued to be used alongside the next logo until 27 December 1992.
1971–1992
Designer:
Abram Games
Typography:
Old Gothic Bold Italic
Launched:
February 1971
In February 1971, a new logo was made by rounding off the boxes, making the spaces between them larger. 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. This logo and the 1963 logo continued to be used alongside the next logo until 27 December 1992.
Helvetica Neue Black Oblique (logotype) Futura Condensed Italic Oblique (sub brand)
Launched:
May 1988
In May 1988, the BBC launched yet another new logo, designed by Michael Peters. The logo was modified by sharpening up the parallelogram edges again and set to an angle of 17 degrees without reducing the size of the spaces between the boxes. The text was also sharpened up to make it match the clarity of the logo itself - the typeface used was Helvetica Neue. Also, under-logo lines were added for the first time. These lines were coloured blue, red, and green to reflect the flags of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, as well as the three phosphors of colour television. Despite the 1997 rebrand, this logo continued to be used as an in-credit logo and with the BBC Radio Clwyd logo until the radio station eventually shut down in August 1998.
On 4 October 1997, in honour of the corporation's 75th anniversary, the BBC launched a new logo and corporate identity, designed by Martin Lambie-Nairn. All its channels and services introduced a new logo scheme on that day, consisting of the BBC logo and the service name in one line. At the same time, its terrestrial channels BBC1 and BBC2 were also renamed as BBC One and BBC Two.
The three lines of the 1988 logo were removed from the logo, and the boxes and letters were also straightened up, making the boxes look similar to the 1958 logo. The typeface used is Gill Sans, made by Eric Gill in 1926. By 2002, most services were using a different design with the logo and name on top of each other in a box. This logo is the longest-lived in the history of the BBC, having been used for 24 years until the partial 2021 rebrand.
16 December 2020 (reveal) Early 2021 (soft-launch) 20 October 2021 (full rebrand)
In 2021, it was revealed that the BBC was planning on rolling out a refresh of the Lambie-Nairn logo. The iconic boxes are subtly squared up and spaced outwards. The new lettering is in BBC Reith, the BBC's proprietary font, introduced in 2017 and designed by Dalton Maag. The rebranding was soft-launched in early 2021 in the BBC News beta app, and internationally through BBC Studios's streaming service BBC Select in North America, and BBC Kids in Australia.
The BBC and its main terrestrial channels including BBC One rebranded on 20 October, as well as its radio station BBC Radio 1, which began using this logo on 2 November, replacing the Gill Sans logo after 24 years. BBC News also rebranded to include the Reith Sans logo on 25 April 2022, while CBBC and CBeebies rebranded to use the new logo on 15 March 2023, and BBC Parliament followed suit in February 2025.
Shortly after receiving its first Royal Charter in 1927, the BBC was granted its own armorials by the College of Arms.
The British lion forms the 'crest' of the arms, and the thunderbolt it holds is a heraldic way of representing broadcasting. The eagles form the 'supporters', and represent speed, while the bugles they wear round their necks symbolize public proclamation.
On the shield is the globe surrounded by seven stars, which represent the other seven planets in the Solar System and hence reflect the scope and breadth of the Corporation. Finally, the motto, "Nation shall speak peace unto nation", is based on verses from the Old Testament (Micah 4:3 and Isaiah 2:4).
1988–present
An updated Coat of Arms was introduced with the underlined BBC logo (see above) in 1988, retaining all the properties of the original arms but making them appear more defined.
BBC Studios Productions Units:Comedy | Continuing Drama | Documentary | Drama | Entertainment | Events | Factual Entertainment | Formats + Features | Music | Natural History | Science
Subsidiaries:Baby Cow Productions | BBC Studios Africa | BBC Studios America | BBC Studios Australia | BBC Studios Canada | BBC Studios France | BBC Studios Germany Productions | BBC Worldwide Holdings | BBC Studios India | BBC Studios Singapore | BBC Studios Intermediadora de Programadora Estangeira | BBC Studios Japan | BBC Studios Mexico | BBC Studios Polska | BBC Studios Productions Nordics | Clerkenwell Films | Firebird Pictures | House Productions | Lookout Point | Mighty Productions | Moonage Pictures | Rapid Blue | Sid Gentle Films
