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Logo of the BBC

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Logo of the BBC

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 1987 to 1997, the fifth from 1997 to 2021, while the sixth and current logo was adopted in October 2021.

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 Bs, 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.

In 1953, Abram Games was commissioned to design an on-air image. Nicknamed the 'bat's wings', 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.

In the 1960s, the main BBC logo consisted of slanted boxes with italicised bold lettering. 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 coloured 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. This logo was used concurrently with the 1971 and 1987 logos until 1992.

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.

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