The Speedbird is the stylised emblem of a bird in flight designed in 1932 by

Theyre Lee-Elliott Theyre Lee-Elliott (28 May 1903 – 24 December 1988) was an English artist who created notable Art Deco logos such as the Speedbird and painted the ballet and religious art. He was born David Lee Theyre Elliott in 1903 in Lewes. He was educate ...

as the

corporate logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in a ...

for

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was an early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers ...

. It became a design classic and was used by the airline and its successors –

British Overseas Airways Corporation British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the United Kingdom, British state-owned national airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II ...

(BOAC) and

British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...

– for 52 years. The term "Speedbird" is still the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

for British Airways.

History

Imperial Airways

The original Speedbird was designed in 1932 for Imperial Airways by Theyre Lee-Elliott through Stuart Advertising Agency. A relief sculpture, which become the final version, was made by Barbara Hepworth. It was initially used on advertising posters and luggage labels.Glenn H. Morgan
Theyre Lee-Elliott (1903–1988): Graphic Designer, Artist and Writer
(retrieved 11 September 2015) Later, it was applied to the nose section of the company's aircraft and could be seen for example in 1938 on the company's Short Empire S.30 flying boats.

BOAC

With the creation of BOAC in 1939 the logo was retained, continuing to appear on the noses of aircraft throughout

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

despite the military-style

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

that had replaced the airline

livery A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol, or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery often includes elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...

. From 1950 BOAC gave the Speedbird greater prominence on the aircraft using it on the tail fin, either in

navy blue Navy blue is a dark shade of the color blue. Navy blue got its name from the dark blue (contrasted with naval white) worn by officers in the Royal Navy since 1748 and subsequently adopted by other navies around the world. When this color name, ...

on a white background or vice versa, and also using it widely elsewhere, such as on airport buses. With the advent of

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...

and the adoption of

s to identify aircraft and their operators, BOAC chose the name of their now well-known logo, "Speedbird", as their call sign when in flight. In the mid-1960s the design of the Speedbird was slightly altered, with a slimmer "body" and larger "wing", and on the tailfin coloured

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

on a navy blue background. Elsewhere the colours used for it were mostly a combination of

cyan Cyan () is the color between blue and green on the visible spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a predominant wavelength between 500 and 520 nm, between the wavelengths of green and blue. In the subtractive color system, or CMYK c ...

and white.

British Airways

In 1974, BOAC was merged with

British European Airways British European Airways (BEA), formally British European Airways Corporation, was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. BEA operated to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from airports around the United Kingdom. The ...

and others to form

. The speedbird logo was retained unaltered, but returned to the nose section of the aircraft. A prominent

Union Flag The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

design now occupied the fin. The Speedbird survived for another ten years, finally being retired in December 1984. It was replaced by the Speedwing, which was itself replaced by the current Speedmarque in 1997. As British Airways prepared for

privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

, a new corporate look was adopted in 1984, developed by Landor Associates. Referred to as the Speedwing, the red flash on the lower dark blue part of the fuselage bore a slight resemblance to the original 1930s design. The current Speedmarque ribbon bears a resemblance to the original Speedbird, but is simpler in design, being similar to the Landor Associates Speedwing. "Speedbird" continues to be used by British Airways as the ICAO callsign for its main international services. On its domestic services, it uses the callsign "Shuttle". Hatton Cross tube station, which opened in 1975, features Speedbird tile artwork on its platform pillars, and has retained them from the station's opening to the present day. In 2019, the Speedbird emblem returned to use by British Airways with the unveiling of their BOAC-liveried

Boeing 747-400 The Boeing 747-400 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, an advanced variant of the initial Boeing 747. The ''Advanced Series 300'' was announced at the September 1984 Farnborough Airshow, target ...

to celebrate 100 years of BA and its predecessors.

Design significance

Theyre Lee-Elliott was a graphic artist and painter working in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in the 1930s. The Speedbird is among his best known works. The minimalist, stylish and

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

design representing a bird in flight it is instantly recognisable and has a timelessly modern appeal. Lee-Elliott was influenced by

Vorticism Vorticism was a London-based Modernism, modernist art movement formed in 1914 by the writer and artist Wyndham Lewis. The movement was partially inspired by Cubism and was introduced to the public by means of the publication of the Vorticist mani ...

, particularly the work of Edward McKnight Kauffer. The logo echoes Kauffer's angular bird forms in his 1918 poster for the '' Daily Herald''. Other notable works by Lee-Elliott include posters for the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

and the

Airmail Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be th ...

logo. Many of his paintings and original artworks are in the collection of the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

Other Speedbirds

A somewhat different Speedbird logo was designed for

Piedmont Airlines Piedmont Airlines, Inc. ( ) is an American regional airline headquartered at the Salisbury Regional Airport in Wicomico County, Maryland, near the Salisbury, Maryland, city of Salisbury. The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American ...

in 1948. Speedbird House was an office block at Heathrow Airport. It was originally the headquarters of BOAC and, until the company moved, of British Airways. Speedbird Way is a road near the Colnbrook Bypass, close to

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

. Speedbird is also the name of one of the

Sailing Club

yachts A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

. The Malliga MAL 04 Speedbird was a 2010s Austrian experimental high-speed monoplane.

References

{{British Airways British Airways British Overseas Airways Corporation Imperial Airways Aircraft markings Graphic design