Starting with the very first version introduced in the 1930s the United Airlines logo has always been built around the name of the company. In some cases, the word “Airlines” was omitted.
United Airlines is one of the companies in the aviation segment with probably the most amount of redesigns, held throughout its history. The logo of the company has been changed more than a dozen times, and finally turned into something minimalist yet stylish and recognizable.
What is United Airlines?
United Airlines is a name of one of the largest American and world air carriers, which was established in 1926, and today has a fleet of more than 800 planes, flying to almost 350 destinations worldwide. The airline is a member of the Star Alliance.
The very first United Airlines logo was introduced in 1930 and featured a dark blue rectangular badge with a white circle in its center and two white banners coming out of the circle to the sides. Inside the circle, there was a blue silhouette of the United States of America. With two white arrows on it. As for the banners, they had blue “United Air Lines” lettering on them. The wordmark was executed in an italicized bold sans-serif typeface, which looked modern and stylish.
The redesign of 1933 brought a simple and modest logo to the company. It was bold white lettering laced in two levels in a dark blue background. No graphical additions or framing. The wordmark was executed in the same modern sans-serif typeface as in the previous version, though this time the inscription was not italicized.
In 1935 the logo of the company changed its color palette to sky-blue and white, which added elegance and finesse to the composition. The typeface of the lettering was also thanked and not the contours of the sans-serif inscription featured rounded and slightly narrowed shapes, with the bottom, “Air Lines”, in thin lines with plenty of space between the letters.
The redesign of 1939 brought a new concept to United Airlines, replacing the rectangular banner with a classy tricolor crest. The upper part of the crest featured red background and white “United” lettering on it, while the middle part was white and had a blue “Air Lines” written on it. The bottom part of the emblem featured blue color, and a light blue silhouette of the USA was placed on the blur and white parts, with the “Coast to Coast” tagline arched under it.
The tricolor crest was refined in 1940. The colors became more intense and dark, and the graphics were gone from the emblem. Now it was a white five-pointed star in a red background, a black bold “United” on white and a white capitalized “Air Lines” placed on the bottom blue part of the crest. This logo stayed with the company for more than a decade.
The silhouette of the crest got inclined to the right in 1954, with its color palette elevated to lighter and brighter shades. As for the main theme and composition, it all remained unchanged. With the slat of the crest, the logo started looking playful and friendly.
The redesign of 1960 made “United” the only lettering of the visual identity. Now it was enlarged and written in bold black sans-serif letters over a white part of a small and elegant tricolor crest with the white star on its upper part.
In 1961 the crest was replaced by a red and blue spiked, located behind the black italicized “United” inscription. The upper part of the new symbol was pointed and featured a red shade, while the bottom one was wider, executed in blue color and symbolizing reliability and trustworthiness of the Airline.
With the redesign of 1971, the lettering on the logo gained a new sophisticated style. It is now written in the title case of an elegant italicized serif typeface with smooth sharpened lines. This version of the logo looked fine and light, reflecting the essence and purpose of the company.
In 1974 the United Airlines logo was redesigned by Sail Bass. The new emblem featured a blue and red stylized letter “U”, placed above the modern and smooth sans-serif wordmark in all capitals. The lettering was executed in black, which looked solid and strong, while the slightly slanted bright icon added a welcoming and comfortable feeling to the whole composition.
The redesign of 1988 introduced a super modern and minimalistic logo for United Airlines. It was a monochrome badge with the enlarged “United” inscription in the lowercase of a futuristic sans-serif typeface written above a small “Airlines” tagline, executed in the uppercase of a more traditional and lightweight font.
The icon, which got nicknamed “Tulip” was placed on the left from the wordmark in 1993. As for the inscription, it changes its modern and wide sans-serif typeface to a bold and elegant serif one, with thick lines and visible sharp serifs. This redesign was made by the CKS Partners design bureau.
In 1998 the United Airlines visual identity was refreshed by the famous Pentagram agency. The emblem stayed at its place, just got its colors brightened up, while the lettering was shortened to “United” and switched its typeface to a bold and contemporary sans-serif with extra-thick lines and diagonal cuts of the “T”s horizontal bar.
After the merger of the company with Continental Airlines, the logo was redesigned again in 2010. The new composition featured a blue and white combination of a two-leveled “United Airlines” inscription placed on the left from a blue square emblem with the white globe contour on it. The typeface of the inscription was a bold and classy serif, which looked elegant and professional.
The previous version of the logo was only used by the company for three months and got replaced by a refreshed version already in August 2010. The blue color became darker and calmer, while the serif inscription got replaced by a bold and wide sans-serif “United”, executed in all capitals.
The redesign of 2019 refined and cleaned the lines of the United Airlines visual identity and hanged its main color to a brighter and more intense shade of blue, which made the whole logo look different from its previous version.
The solid capitalized “United” logotype is executed in a clean and bold sans-serif typeface, which features traditional shapes and cuts of the letters. The typeface of the United Airlines visual identity looks pretty close to such fonts as Biondi Sans Bold and Ephemera Kingsford Sans.
What is the logo for United Airlines?
The logo of one of the leading air carriersin the United States, United Airlines, is composed of an uppercase sans-serif “United” lettering, followed by a solid blues square with a white stylized globe drawn over it. The lettering, set in the same shade of blue, has its characters slightly extended and placed a bit far from each other.
What is the United brand?
The brand of United Airlines is, first of all, the corporate philosophy and standards. The second line in the list is taken by the naming, motto, and visual identity of the company, which includes the logo design, official color palette, and font, used for all the graphical materials of United Airlines.
Are American and United Airlines the same?
American Airlines and United Airlines are two completely different companies. Moreover, these two air carriers are the main competitors in the airline segment in the United States. The companies are based in different hubs and belong to different aviation alliances z
Who founded United Airlines?
The United Airlines company was founded in 1931 by Walter Varney, one of the most significant figures in the aviation history of the USA. Apart from United Airlines, Varney also established the Continental Airlines company.