Editing Speedbird

{{Short description|British Airways emblem and call sign}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
[[File:BOAC Speedbird.svg|thumb|The '''Speedbird''' emblem.]]

The '''Speedbird''' is the stylised emblem of a bird in flight designed in 1932 by [[Theyre Lee-Elliott]] as the [[corporate logo]] for [[Imperial Airways]].  It became a design classic<ref name=HAT>{{citation |journal=Flying |page=48 |title=Heraldry of Air Transport |date=January 1959 |quote=BOAC's Speedbird, one of the classics of airline and advertising design |volume=64 |number=1 |issn=0015-4806}}</ref> and was used by the airline and its successors – [[British Overseas Airways Corporation]] (BOAC) and [[British Airways]] – for 52 years.  The term "Speedbird" is still the [[Aviation call signs|call sign]] for British Airways.

==History==

===Imperial Airways===
[[File:De Havilland DH.91 Albatross G-AFDI.jpg|thumb|right|On the nose of "[[Martin Frobisher|Frobisher]]" – an Imperial Airways [[de Havilland Albatross]] in 1938.]]
The original Speedbird was designed in 1932 for Imperial Airways by Theyre Lee-Elliott through [[Stuart Advertising Agency]].<ref name=PotP>{{citation |pages=37–43 |title=Poetics of the Poster |chapter=Visual Metaphors: Airline logos |author=David H. T. Scott |publisher=Liverpool University Press |year=2010 |isbn=9781846314865}}</ref> A relief sculpture, which become the final version, was made by [[Barbara Hepworth]]. It was initially used on advertising posters and luggage labels.<ref name="morgan">Glenn H. Morgan; [http://www.stampprinters.info/tle.pdf Theyre Lee-Elliott (1903–1988): Graphic Designer, Artist and Writer] (retrieved 11 September 2015)</ref> 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.<ref>Norris, G.; ''The Short Empire Flying Boats'', Profile Publications, 1966.</ref>

===BOAC===
[[File:British Overseas Airways Corporation (logo).svg|thumb|left|160px|Speedbird in the [[BOAC]] logo ca. 1965]]
[[File:British_Overseas_Airways_Corporation_and_Qantas,_1940-1945._CH14063.jpg|thumb|right|On the nose of a BOAC [[Armstrong Whitworth Ensign]] refuelling in [[Accra]] during WW2.]]
[[File:BOAC LYF 307D.JPG|thumb|The Speedbird on a BOAC liveried [[Leyland Atlantean]].]]
With the creation of BOAC in 1939 the logo was retained, continuing to appear on the noses of aircraft throughout [[World War II]] despite the military-style [[camouflage]] that had replaced the airline [[livery]].

From 1950 BOAC gave the Speedbird greater prominence on the aircraft using it on the [[vertical stabilizer|tail fin]], either in [[navy blue]] 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]] and the adoption of [[call sign]]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 (color)|gold]] on a navy blue background. Elsewhere the colours used for it were mostly a combination of [[cyan]] and white.

===British Airways===
[[File:Concorde-nose.jpg|thumb|right|Speedbird logo on the nose of [[Concorde]] G-BOAD at takeoff]]
In 1974, BOAC was merged with [[British European Airways]] and others to form [[British Airways]]. The speedbird logo was retained unaltered, but returned to the nose section of the aircraft. A prominent [[Union Flag]] 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=British Airways: Looking back at our most memorable liveries|url=https://www.britishairways.com/100/story/heritage-liveries}}</ref>[[File:British_Airways_Boeing_747-400%3B_G-BNLC@LHR%3B04.04.1997_(4904342045).jpg|thumb|[[Boeing 747-400]] displaying the post-1984 ''Speedwing''.]]
[[File:ba b747-400 g-bnle arp.jpg|thumb|Boeing 747-400 displaying the post-1997 ''Speedmarque''.]]
[[File:Hatton_Cross_stn_westbound_look_east.JPG|thumb|Hatton Cross tube station displaying three Speedbirds on a pillar.]]
As British Airways prepared for [[Privatization|privatisation]], 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.avcodes.co.uk/airlcoderes.asp|title=The Aviation Codes Website – Airline Codes beginning with|website=www.avcodes.co.uk}}</ref>  On its domestic services, it uses the callsign "Shuttle".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pprune.org/atc-issues/191645-ba-call-signs.html|title=BA Call Signs – PPRuNe Forums|website=www.pprune.org|language=en|access-date=2018-01-19}}</ref>

[[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]] to celebrate 100 years of BA and its predecessors.<ref>{{cite web |title=BRITISH AIRWAYS UNVEILS BOAC 747-400 RETROJET |url=http://australianaviation.com.au/2019/02/british-airways-unveils-boac-747-400-retrojet/ |website=[[Australian Aviation]] Online |publisher=[[Australian Aviation]] |accessdate=21 February 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Kingsley-Jones |first1=Max |title=PICTURES: BOAC 747 retrojet marks British Airways centenary |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/pictures-boac-747-retrojet-marks-british-airways-ce-455845/ |website=[[FlightGlobal]] |publisher=FlightGlobal}}</ref>

==Design significance==
[[File:Daily herald.jpg|thumb|160px|right|[[Edward McKnight Kauffer]]'s 1917 poster for the ''[[Daily Herald (UK newspaper)|Daily Herald]]'']]
Theyre Lee-Elliott was a graphic artist and painter working in [[London]] in the 1930s.

The Speedbird is among his best known works. The minimalist, stylish and [[avant-garde]] design representing a bird in flight it is instantly recognisable and has a timelessly modern appeal.<ref>David H. T. Scott, Poetics of the Poster: The Rhetoric of Image-text, Liverpool University Press, 2010, Chapter 2.</ref>

Lee-Elliott was influenced by [[Vorticism]], particularly the work of [[Edward McKnight Kauffer]]. The logo echoes Kauffer's angular bird forms in his 1918 poster for the ''[[Daily Herald (UK newspaper)|Daily Herald]]''.<ref name=WHoD>{{citation |pages=128–129 |title=World History of Design |chapter=Great Britain 1918–1939 |author=Victor Margolin |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2015 |isbn=9781472569288}}</ref>

Other notable works by Lee-Elliott include posters for the [[London Underground]] and the [[Airmail]] logo.<ref name="morgan" /><ref>{{cite book|title=Airline : identity, design and culture|year=2000|publisher=Laurence King|location=London|isbn=1856692051|author=Lovegrove, designed by Keith}}</ref> Many of his paintings and original artworks are in the collection of the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]].

==Other Speedbirds==
A somewhat different Speedbird logo was designed for [[Piedmont Airlines]] in 1948.<ref>{{cite web|title=Speedbird: The History of Piedmont Airlines|website = [[YouTube]]|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vStZ6-0qAWI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/vStZ6-0qAWI |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Piedmont airlines : a complete history, 1948–1989.|date=28 March 2012|publisher=Mcfarland|location=Jefferson|isbn=978-0786469147}}</ref>

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]].

Speedbird is also the name of one of the [[British Airways]] Sailing Club [[Yacht|yachts]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soyc.co.uk/|title=Speedbird Offshore Yacht Club, Mercury Marina, Hamble near Southampton|website=www.soyc.co.uk}}</ref>

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

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{British Airways}}

[[Category:British Airways]]
[[Category:British Overseas Airways Corporation]]
[[Category:Imperial Airways]]
[[Category:Aircraft markings]]
[[Category:Graphic design]]