BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
used a number of different idents from the time of the station launch on 2 November 1936 until the station took on the
Mirror Globe Idents on 15 November 1969.
Idents
The original idents used when the station launched were slides with the words ''BBC TELEVISION SERVICE'' written in a stylised way. These slides also featured waved lines in different shades and a number of circles in the centre, suggesting that this slide could work in the same way as a
Testcard
A test card, also known as a test pattern or start-up/closedown test, is a television test signal, typically broadcast at times when the transmitter is active but no program is being broadcast (often at sign-on and sign-off).
Used since the ear ...
. Slides of the
BBC Coat of Arms were also shown.
Upon war being declared on 1 September 1939, the Television Service was closed down, with all BBC output being made on
Radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
instead. Many of the staff at BBC Television went to work in the forces, or on the
Chain Home Radar System. The BBC Television Service returned following the war on 7 June 1946 and continued with the same identification.
The Bat's Wings
The ident they called the "Bat's Wings" was introduced on 2 December 1953. A new media needed a new way to brand itself, and this was it. It was a model made of
piano wire
Piano wire, or "music wire", is a specialized type of wire made for use in piano strings but also in other applications as springs. It is made from tempered high-carbon steel, also known as spring steel, which replaced iron as the material st ...
,
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...
and flashing lights, created by
Abram Games
Abram Games (29 July 191427 August 1996) was a British graphic designer. The style of his work – refined but vigorous compared to the work of contemporaries – has earned him a place in the pantheon of the best of 20th-century graphic desi ...
. It featured a spinning globe in the centre and two spinning eyes, each going in different directions. It also features two lightning bolts to either side which lit up with lightning flashes in time to the harp music.
The model was filmed, rather than the live mechanics used later by the BBC, due to the models' delicate and temperamental nature, even breaking down after being filmed. The design itself was meant to represent, in the BBC's own words:
The Bat's Wings were also accompanied by a clock, which featured a simplified Bat's Wings design, with the clock face replacing the globe and eyes, and the intricate lines that made up the bat's wing removed. The noticeable thing about this clock design is the length of the second hand. While the minute and hour hands never went outside the circle at the centre, the second hand went out as far as the bat's wings themselves, making the second hand easily twice as long as the minute hand.
The clock was occasionally accompanied by the
BBC Pips
The Greenwich Time Signal (GTS), popularly known as the pips, is a series of six short tones (or "pips") broadcast at one-second intervals by many BBC Radio stations. The pips were introduced in 1924 and have been generated by the BBC since 1990 ...
when a programme started on the hour.
Another part of the look were the regional variations used by the, then few, Nations and
Regions
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
.
Scotland's
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
variation featured a shield with the Scottish flag inside replacing the eye and world. 'Scotland' was written between the wings at the top of the screen. The regions variation featured the Bat's Wings shape, but with a large eye made up of lines going between both wings. The
BBC North
BBC North (Group) is an operational business division of the BBC.
It is also a brand that has been used by the BBC to mean:
*The large ''BBC North'' region, centred on Manchester, that was active from the late 1920s until 1968 and was based u ...
variation included the legend 'North of England' within this eye with 'BBC' and 'News' written between the wings above and below respectively. The
BBC Midlands variant featured a stylised 'M' in the middle of the eye with midlands written in an eye shape within the 'M'. The BBC legend is written above. The
BBC West
BBC West is one of BBC's English Regions serving Bristol, the majority of Wiltshire and Gloucestershire; northern and eastern Somerset and northeastern Dorset.
Services Television
BBC West's television service (broadcast on BBC One) consists o ...
variation included the same design as the midlands, but with a 'W' and the BBC legend at the bottom.
The West region also included some areas of
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
at this point. Wales would not get its own service until 1964, however, a number of viewers could receive services via overspill of the
Wenvoe Transmitter
The Wenvoe transmitting station, officially known as Arqiva Wenvoe, is the main facility for broadcasting and telecommunications for South Wales and the West Country. It is situated close to the village of Wenvoe in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, i ...
.
As part of the look, captions were also made featuring the Bat's Wings outline on black captions, used to introduce the next programme, programmes for
Schools and Colleges and even the testcards used early in the BBC's existence were updated with the Bat's Wings.
The Map
By the late 1950s and with the introduction of their
new logo
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartn ...
of square boxes with slanted letters a number of things changed. Firstly the clock design was changed c.1958 to two circles, one inside the other, containing the clock and the new logo. The large second hand was retained, reaching the larger of the two circles. The clock element itself was made larger and more consipcous.
This was changed again on 8 October 1960 to a digital clock, featuring the BBC logo above a line, with the 'TV' box and time below.
The Map logo itself was introduced c.1962 and featured the BBC logo in the middle of a circle containing a segmented map of the regions.
This logo also had a variant of a plain circle with BBC logo, used for breaking news.
Regional variations were changed from this point to a similar design to that of the digital clock. The design featured the 'BBC TV' logo above a line with the region name below.
The Globe
The, now famous, symbol of
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...
, and later
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
was the globe. The very first incarnation was introduced on 30 September 1963 and featured a large globe on its axis with the new slanted
BBC logo with a background of black and white, split down the axis of the globe. The globe, like all that followed, spun. This was accompanied by the previous clock used in 1958 with modifications made, namely the logo updated and colours changed to greys. The large second hand was still retained.
Alas this globe only lasted a little while, as it was replaced a few months later with a variation on the theme. Following the 1962
Pilkington Report that suggested that the third television station be awarded to the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
on 20 April 1964. In preparation for this, all 'BBC TV' branding had to disappear from the presentation of the soon to be called
. The globe was made smaller, surrounded by a thick black circle and encompassed in a large white box on a grey background. There was also a slanted BBC logo in the bottom right corner.
The lack of on-screen branding is unusual, but as this ident began its life on BBC TV and ended on BBC1, the lack is justified. However, the lack is also because BBC2 was unseen by many viewers: the new 625-line system meant new equipment had to be purchased and poor coverage meant few could view it. A clock also accompanied this look, with the same design as the globe, but with the clock replacing the globe. It had a black background and normal length second hands.
The next globe design was introduced on 18 April 1966, nicknamed the 'Watch Strap' it featured a smaller globe in the centre of screen with three stripes of grey and white running to the left and right, on a black background. It was also the first ident to use the name 'BBC1', using the slanted logo in white.
The watchstrap globe also featured a clock, with the same design as the globe but with the clock in place of the globe.
Alongside the look, a slide was used to introduce newsflashes, and featured a thick stripe, white on the left-hand side and grey on the right, on a black background with a large angled '1' above the grey section and filling most of the screen. The strip held the slanted 'BBC TV' logo, with the BBC logo in the white section and the grey section containing the 'TV' logo.
The final variation of the globe was introduced on 7 July 1968 and was a variation on the watchstrap theme. The globe now spins on a black background with a white stripe below containing a black BBC1 logo. This version was used only a few months until some time into 1969. It is unknown whether a new clock design accompanied the look, however, it is more than likely that the clock was modified. The newer globe look appears to use the same model as the previous looks but with a modified legend and background, however, we can't be certain.