Arek Dvornechuck
Branding Expert
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In terms of wealth and prestige, aviation is one of the world's most valuable and prestigious industries.
Industry standards for airline logos convey protection, efficiency, and professionalism to the public.
What is the meaning of airline logos?
Most of the airlines’ companies create their logo in accordance with their national flag.
Some of them use different shapes and objects to show their values and history.
What is certain is that they are trying to use their airlines’ visual identity to convince people that they guarantee their passengers’ safety and comfortability.
In this article I explain some of the most famous airline logos.
As we can notice, most of the airline companies usually choose the color blue for their logo.
Well, it is not surprising since they are in the aviation industry and they featured the color of the sky.
Aside from that reason, they also try to convey to the public that they are ensuring their passengers’ safety while onboard.
Southwest Airlines, Swiss Airlines, Air Canada, Air France, Delta, and Qantas include the color red in their logos to demonstrate their passion and love for giving the best quality service possible.
Some of them used shapes just like what Southwest Airlines, Delta, and Swiss Airlines did—heart to represent love and care, triangle to show leadership, and cross to express freedom, honor, and loyalty.
Additionally, there are airline companies that feature objects that have their own representation.
Swiss Airlines, Air Canada, and KLM Airlines include the objects empennage (stability during flight), maple leaf (Canada’s cultural heritage), and crown (company’s royalty).
It is also clear that most airline companies based their logos on their national flag to demonstrate patriotism and loyalty to their country, as Swiss Airlines, Air Canada, Air France, and Delta did.
The word “Southwest” in the Southwest Airlines logo was written in the color blue which was inspired by the color of the sky.
The heart in Southwest Airlines’ logo represents love and care for their customers.
The logo consists of four colors, each of which has its own representation of the airline's mission.
The bold blue represents the airlines’ innovation and constant progress, which they promise to deliver to us every day.
Southwest Airlines intentionally place the warm red color in the middle part of the heart to show their hospitality and to demonstrate customer satisfaction is their priority.
See the logo in use:
Moreover, the sunrise yellow color was also used because they wanted to remind their customers that the future is always bright.
Lastly, they featured summit silver in the lines of the heart to represent the precision with which they promised to provide.
Learn more about Southwest Airlines’ logo history
Swiss Airlines uses the color red for the majority of their logo to represent their passion for providing the best services to their customers.
The empennage symbol in Swiss Airlines logo represents “stability during flight”.
The cross shape in the Swiss Airlines logo was inspired by the flag of Switzerland.
It is placed inside the empennage symbol to demonstrate freedom, honor, and loyalty.
See the logo in use:
The corporation celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1981, and by that time, it had been redesigned.
A new logo, a sign, and new guidelines for employing corporate design elements were established.
The logo is as simple as feasible while acquiring a quick, dynamic picture.
Swiss Airlines’ logo is also partnered with the company’s tagline—“Our sign is a promise.”.
Learn more about Swiss Airlines’ logo history
The Hawaiian Airlines logo was primarily inspired by the vibrant surroundings and amazing way of life experienced in Hawaii.
The idea of using the Pualani icon in the Hawaiian Airlines logo represents Hawaiian culture.
The airline chose to consistently use the image over the years to show people their promise to give the best service that they can’t find with other airlines.
Hawaiian Airlines decided to design their logo in purple to remind people that they provide safety and protection to their customers.
Warmth, care, and generosity are the hallmarks of Hawaiian Airlines.
See the logo in use:
Hawaiian Airlines is the major provider of commercial flights to and from the Hawaiian Islands in the United States.
They used a stylized image of a Hawaiian woman with a flower in her hair to dominate the design (apparently, a Hibiscus, which is the flower of Hawaii).
The purple and white color scheme brilliantly reflects the air carrier's motherland's bright and happy mood.
Learn more about Hawaiian Airlines’ logo history
The whole concept of the creation of the Air Canada logo was inspired by the national flag of Canada.
The red maple leaf in the Air Canada logo represents the cultural heritage of the nation.
There is also a reason why they chose the red and white color palette—to symbolize hope and prosperity.
Air Canada intentionally wrote their name in the black classic font style to show power and confidence, along with the patriotism and professionalism of the company.
See the logo in use:
Air Canada is Canada's largest airline, having been created in 1937 as Trans-Canada Air Lines (TCA), a name it retained until roughly fifty years ago when it was renamed Air Canada.
The Air Canada logo has evolved multiple times throughout its history.
It has, however, always been concise, and the maple leaf, the country's symbol, has always been the focus of attention.
This reinforced the company's position in the country, implying that it is the best among all Canadian airlines.
Learn more about the Air Canada’s logo history
The Air France logo was inspired by the French flag to demonstrate patriotism and loyalty to the country.
The use of the classic French tricolor in the Air France logo represents the country’s history.
The airline chose the elegant combination of blue, red, and white to emphasize the company’s dependability and transparency.
It also highlights Air France’s progressiveness and passion, as well as the importance of passenger comfort and safety.
See the logo in use:
The very first logo of Air France featured the image of the Hippocampus—a mythological creature in the form of winged horse with a fishtail which represents the embodiment of extreme speed.
However, the present version of the logo shows that the font has become much clearer and the letters look thinner and more elegant.
The word Air and France was also combined as one word to show that Air France value unity on their company.
Learn more about Air France’s logo history
The three letters featured in the KLM Airlines logo stand for Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij—which is Royal Aviation Company in English translation.
The idea of using a crown in the KLM Airlines logo represents the company’s royalty.
KLM Airlines chose to use only the light blue color in their logo to associate it with the color of the sky.
Additionally, it also demonstrates the safety that the company has pledged to give their passengers.
See the logo in use:
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines got its initial logo in 1919, the year it was founded—it was made up of linked K, L, and M characters arranged in a hexagonal pattern with wings and a crown.
The color palette of the KLM visual identity was the focus of the 1991 redesign.
As a result, both the text and the crown began to use the same light, clean blue.
This gave the image a more progressive and even youthful appearance.
Learn more about KLM Airlines’ logo history
Delta Airlines featured the color combination of red and blue, which was inspired by the flag of the United States.
The triangle shape in the Delta Airlines logo represents leadership.
They chose to paint it red to show their passion and love for giving quality service to their passengers.
Delta Airlines use simple sans serif all-caps type called Whitney in their logo to show excellent legibility even at greater distances.
Delta Airlines intentionally wrote the letters in the color blue, not only to represent the sky, but also to symbolize the pinnacle of professional achievement.
See logo in use:
The shape in the Delta Airlines logo also represents the letter “D” of the Greek alphabet, which is “delta”—same as the airline’ name.
Robert Bragg of Burke Dowling Adams developed the airline's triangle badge in 1959.
He noticed that the Convairs’ fighter-silhouette interceptor resembled the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet and informed the chairman of advertising firm BDA of his discovery.
Learn more about Delta Airlines’ logo history
Lufthansa featured the crane bird in their logo to demonstrate Lufthansa’s values.
The flying bird in the Lufthansa logo represents freedom and peace.
The company's professionalism and knowledge are emphasized by the font's clean and tidy lines and contours, which reflect German quality and responsibility.
Ronald Wild designed the current Lufthansa logo in 2018.
Like any other airline, Lufthansa also uses the blue color to represent the color of the sky.
See the logo in use:
Compared to the earlier logos, nothing was radically changed, and just a small redesign was carried out.
The emblem's frame is now slimmer, and the crane's lines have been modified, giving it a more attractive and contemporary appearance.
Learn more about Lufthansa’s logo history
Transavia designed their logo with a letter “t” inside a green circle to demonstrate the airlines’ care for their beloved passengers.
The green theme in the Transavia logo represents success, growth, and prosperity.
They use a modern and stylish sans-serif font with full-shaped contours for the letters.
It is believed that Transavia chose to use that font style to represent the airline’s simplicity and class.
See the logo in use:
Transavia, a Dutch airline, recently introduced its latest strategy and company logo, which were created by Studio Dumbar and Mirabeau, a digital marketing agency.
Transavia has a new logo as part of the rebranding, and the green primary color has been renewed.
Learn more about Transavia’s logo history
Qantas Airlines used the red triangle shape to express their passion and confidence in the industry.
The kangaroo in the Qantas logo represents the spirit of Australia.
The whole concept of their logo demonstrates the company’s progressive character and attention to customers.
Qantas Airlines also uses bold and fancy font styles, which reflect the high quality of the services that they are promised to give.
See the logo in use:
The early logo was a basic capitalized inscription with all the letters separated by small solid squares, and the major Australian airline received its name from the first letters of its original title.
In 2016, the flying kangaroo was given a modern, streamlined makeover to represent a new age and a new generation of Qantas aircraft: the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Learn more about Qantas’ logo history
Each airline's logo is a great example of corporate visual branding.
The logos of airlines must show their trustworthiness and passion.
When it comes to airline logos around the world, we can observe that the industry's logo designs are a reflection of effective advertising and meticulous branding strategies.
Because airlines are important national carriers, their branding essentially reveals a country's history.
The colors of their national flags adorn the tails of numerous aircraft in most airline logos.
But logos are not enough—aside from focusing on designing logos, it is much more important to work on the brand strategy to connect with people and gain their trust.
Did I miss something?—Leave a comment below.
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I'm a branding expert and graphic designer based in NY. I specialize in the development of brands: brand strategy, identity & web design. Need help with your project?—Get in touch
