Logo of the BBC

British Broadcasting Corporation

The blocks, the logo of the BBC since 1997
Industry	Broadcasting
Genre	General
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Website	www.bbc.co.uk

The BBC logo has been a brand identity for the corporation and its work since the 1960s 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 this crest rarely appeared onscreen. With the increased role of television for the BBC in the 1960s, particularly after the foundation of ITV, the corporation used its logo to increase viewer familiarity and to standardise their image and content. The logo has since been redesigned a number of times, most recently, in 1997, with the BBC blocks, a logo designed to work across media. From 1958, for this television network, there are five different logos. The first logo of network is used from 1958 to 1963, the second logo is used from 1963 to 1971, the third logo is used from 1971 to 1991, the fourth logo is used from 1988 to 1997, and the fifth and current logo is used from 1997.

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 stylized entwining of two capital B's, 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.

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 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. In the 1950s, the BBC began using logos to differentiate their channels from one another. The BBC1 logo at this time was a circular clock with BBC1 in bubble letters below it.

In the 1960s, the main BBC logo consisted of slanted boxes with italicised bold lettering. This was introduced soon after the introduction of ITV in 1955. 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 BBC 1 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 BBC 1 and BBC 2 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 show a rotating blue globe superimposed over a flat globe, as on a map. Below the globes there is a line and the words BBC 1 COLOUR. The word 'colour' was included to remind viewers still watching in black and white to purchase a colour TV set.