Airline companies are known to distinguish themselves through brand names, goods, services, ads, colours and many others distinct characteristics. One other common feature that sets airline A from airline B is the type of logo each of them use.

Logos are unique artworks or designs used by individuals and mostly companies. Every single day, new companies are burgeoning and airlines are not left out. Airlines have logos that speak volumes about their companies because they understand that it is paramount to their success as an entity. Both small and large airlines let their logos do an introduction for the company’s name, service or business goal. Some of the airlines allow a whole statement for their company relying on the saying that “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

Generally, airlines use logos to give a face or corporate identity to their companies. It kind of does an eye-catcher advertisement to the normal client after which other adverts may follow. Additionally, airlines use the logos for image laundering jobs to the general public; therefore, a well and carefully designed logo will definitely go beyond the borders of its immediate environment to places imagined. A good logo also does stand the test of time.

Apart from the beauty and aesthetic value of logos, airlines explore this priceless company feature to give quality and outstanding value to their business; creating an individuality for the airline and a picture name of the airline in the minds of all consumers. Thus, when an established airline’s name is mentioned, among the things that readily comes to mind is the airline’s logo which represents a part of the airlines’ successes or failures, corporate strengths or weaknesses, etc.

Many airlines have logos with birds in them and it seems they love this type of logo depiction. Maybe because an aero plane is a metal bird right?. For example, the American Airlines logo is seen as two capital A alphabets standing side by side with an eagle in the middle. The average viewer’s mind may instinctively suggest an airline that is strong (the eagle) and united (the alphabets) with a sense of teamwork (the entire logo).

American Airlines, Air Philippines, Lufthansa, Singapore and Japanese Airlines are three examples of airlines that carry birds in their corporate images. These logos may suggest different things to different casual observers but the first or primary objective is to catch the attention of the viewer. Star Alliance Airline has a logo that speaks for itself with a 5-pointed star logo.

Other popular airlines with logos with unique insignias are Delta Airlines which carries a three-cornered widget, the kangaroo representation of Qantas Airlines, the home-made kite design logo of Malaysian Airlines and the calligraphic brush stroke of Hong Kong’s Airline – Cathay Pacific.

Take Qantas Airlines as a more specific example, the airline has a total of four separate logos that represent the four different air and ground services the airline provides. Qantas Link is the regional air travel department of the parent airline. It carries the normal running kangaroo symbol as its logo. Qantas Flight Catering is wholly owned and run by the mother airline under the Qantas Flight Catering Holdings but has a completely different logo for this department.

Qantas Freight is a freight airline service with a Qantas Link logo but slightly different. Express Ground Handling is a ground service which is another wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas Airlines. Its logo is almost similar to that of the popular fashion designers Reebok but not exactly the same. Popular but defunct airline logos include the blue-striped globe of Pan-American Airlines which lasted between 1958 and 1991 before the airline was formally sold to Delta Airlines; its pacific and atlantic routes bought by United Airlines, then Delta and American Airlines respectively.

The old Imperial and British Airlines logo (also known as BOAC) was the speed bird that looked like a jet-flying bird on top speed. It was a great logo that always invokes memories of the good old traffic of the sixties and early seventies. The nostalgia-induced logo finally rested along with its BOAC owners in 1973.

It is as a result of the uniqueness of a company’s logo and the fact that a logo explicitly or implicitly identifies a company that lawsuits are filed for copyrights infringement; where a logo is protected by a country’s copyright laws. Being a valid trademark for an airline, there has never been two airlines or more sharing the same logo. Well, not from the inception of corporate commercial airlines till date.