Barclays plc. is a major financial corporation, which was established in great Britain and has been operating since 1690. It is one of the world’s oldest banking groups.
Although the Barclays logo is officially thought to have originated in 1948, it goes back to the time of the bank’s foundation. Those were days when even business owners could hardly boast high literacy levels. The eagle was nothing less than a pictorial, with which the founders branded the bank, because they could not write the name.
The minimalistic current logo features a blue eagle icon and the bank’s name written in the firm’s signature typeface.
What is the symbol of Barclays PLC?
The symbol of Barclays Bank is an eagle. The heraldic bird has been a part of the company’s visual identity since its very first days. The representation of power and excellence, the Barclays’ eagle today is drawn in a sleek abstract manner with a gradient blue color palette, clean lines, and a very elegant contour.
The iconic symbol of Barclays Bank was adopted by the company in the 1960s and has never left its visual identity since then. The heraldic eagle, a representation of courage and power, has undergone several major redesigns but hasn’t lost its strength and elegance.
The logo, introduced in the 1960s was composed of a bold narrowed inscription in sans-serif, which was set in two levels and had a small black emblem on the right from the “Bank” part. The monochrome logo looked a bit unbalanced, as the letters were too massive and heavy in comparison to a delicate and light heraldic bird.
In 1968 the logotype was rewritten and set in one line under a slightly enlarged emblem. The lettering was now executed in a title case of a smooth and sophisticated serif typeface with bold lines and thickened ends of the letters. As for the emblem, it fully repeated the one from the previous logo, but now became more visible and powerful. The logo stayed with the bank for only two years, but it was a timeless example of elegance and professionalism.
In 1979 the bank started using bright colors for its visual identity — a light sea-blue shade became the main color of the logo along with white, which stood for loyalty and reliability. The wordmark now consisted only of “Barclays”, with the “Bank” part removed, and this made the whole image look more modern and confident.
The logo, introduced in 1970 featured a horizontally stretched rectangle in sea-blue, with a bold serif wordmark in all capitals on it. The emblem in white was put on a sea-blue square and placed on the left from the logotype.
In 1999 the eagle got stylized and placed on a gradient blue circle with a glossy and transparent surface. The “Barclays” wordmark was placed under the medallion and written in a smooth italicized typeface with elegant long lines. The logotype featured an intense and bright shade of blue, which perfectly balanced the colors of the emblem.
The Barclays logo we all can see today was created for the bank in 2002. It is composed of a bold and elegant wordmark in custom font with slightly inclined letters and their ends thickened and sharpened, starting smooth and delicate serifs.
As for the emblem, it is drawn in the same light shade of blue and featured a stylized eagle with its head turned to the left. The bird is executed in smooth clean lines with not many details and a bit gradient color of the body.
As a sponsor of the Premier League from 2007/08 to 2015/2016, Barclays had the right to have its name and emblem included in the club’s logo. Although there was more than one Barclays Premier League symbol, they were built around the same core: a depiction of a lion with a ball and the Barclays symbol below.