United Airlines is a prominent company, specializing in air transfers of cargo and passengers to destinations in both Americas, Europe, Asia, and beyond. They have a rich history of work on customer comfort, safety, onboard entertainment, and technological innovations. Combined, these features made UA one of the largest air companies with a total fleet of 891 planes flying to 300+ routes.
Meaning and History
United Airlines has a rich and illustrious history that spans nearly a century. Its journey began in 1926 when it took flight as a pioneering force in the aviation industry. From its humble beginnings as a small mail carrier, United Airlines quickly soared to great heights, establishing itself as a prominent global airline.
Throughout its history, United Airlines has been a trailblazer, constantly pushing the boundaries of what air travel can offer. The airline has been at the forefront of technological advancements, embracing innovation to enhance the passenger experience and redefine the way people connect across the world.
United Airlines has built a vast network of destinations, seamlessly connecting travelers to various corners of the globe. Its commitment to providing exceptional customer service has earned the trust and loyalty of millions of passengers. United Airlines’ focus on personalized experiences and attention to detail ensures that each journey is not only comfortable but also memorable.
As United Airlines continues to shape the future of aviation, its logo stands as a symbol of its enduring legacy and unwavering dedication to excellence. Below is the ultimate overview of the brand’s logo.
What is United Airlines?
United Airlines is a global cargo and passenger air transporter with a fleet of almost 900 planes, flying to 300+ places. The company was established in 1926 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
1930 – 1933
The original logo lasted only three years, but it set the tone for what followed. It was a dark blue signboard with a long white stripe, on which the inscription ‘United Air Lines’ found its place. The center of this stripe was a circle where they drew a map of the US with two long lines pointing at California and Texas.
1933 – 1935
The next logotype depicted a block colored the same dark blue. The name in two lines was prominently placed on it.
1935 – 1939
The 1935 redesign featured the signboard colored pale blue, and the name caption was reworked in a new typeface. Previously, it has been a bold serif-free script with sharp angles; at that time, it was a blocky script with thick lines.
1939 – 1940
The latter image was a crest with three sharp top tips. Its upper part was colored red and contained the word ‘united’ in all caps; the central part was white and showed the caption ‘air lines’ plus the upper part of the US map where a line crosses the continent, hence showing that the United works across the country; at the blue bottom, there was the rest of the map and the slogan ‘coast-to-coast’, surrounded by stars.
1940 – 1954
The next logotype advanced the shield concept. On a similar shape, they placed three stripes of red, white, and deep blue respectively. At the top was a five-ended star; the center was occupied by the word ‘United’; at the bottom, they drew the caption ‘Air Lines’.
1954 – 1960
Later, the shield was widened, flattened, and angled. The composition remained untouched, but the color scheme was brightened.
1960 – 1961
The following update made the bold and large word ‘united’ in italic caps the only texting in the company’s brand mark. It replaced the white part of the shield and went strongly beyond its borders. The remaining parts of the shield were also angled and made narrower than before.
1961 – 1971
The 1961 edition of the brand image was a long spike, divided into two parts, colored bright blue and red respectively. Between them, the blue caption ‘United’ in elegant cursive letters was placed.
1971 – 1974
At the beginning of the 70s, United used the familiar spike in a bit darker color code; the word itself was made black.
1974 – 1993
The year 1974 saw another redesign of the UA’s brand identity, completed by Sail Bass. It was a completely new logo that featured the full name caption in futuristic characters with bold angular lines, which had the same size. Above it was a letter ‘U’, stylized of four vertically oriented wavy lines: two blue, and two red.
1988 – 1993
The logo, used by the air carrier at the end of the 1980s, looked super cool and modern for its times. It was a black-and-white composition with the stylized lettering set in two levels. The upper line comprised a massive lowercase “United Inscription”, set in a geometric sans-serif font, while the bottom level featured an uppercase “Airlines” with the “N” set in the lowercase and repeating the shape of the “N” in the “United”.
1993 – 1998
Throughout the 90s, they had been using the stylized ‘U’ emblem in concert with the nameplate, written in a serif font with all characters uppercase. They had varying widths: some lines of the characters were bold, and the others were slim.
1998 – 2010
In 1998, the well-established design agency called Pentagram took care of the UA’s logo reworking. As a result, the agency came up with a logotype where the airline’s emblem lost its second blue line. Additionally, the agency restyled the name caption: the bold uppercase ‘United’ stood prominently aside, and its characters were spread far from each other.
2010
The redesign of 2010 has redrawn the United Airlines logo, creating a calmer and more professional badge, set in a blue-and-white color palette. The new concept was based on a two leveled inscription in a bold serif font, followed by a blue square emblem with a white globe on it. This version of the logo only stayed active for several months.
2010 – 2019
The latter United Airlines’ official logotype depicts a reworked composition. This time, an elegant inscription ‘United Airlines’ is placed in two lines to the left of a squire featuring a part of a globe that represents the international reach of the company. This design was introduced shortly after the UA merged with Continental Airlines.
2019 – Today
In 2019 the United Airlines logo was slightly refined, with the only change made to the color palette. The calm and soft blue was replaced with an intense electric shade. As for the main elements, the wordmark and the emblem, they remained the same, keeping the recognizable contours and style.
Color
For most of its history, the company has portrayed a strong connection to its home country, the United States, using the national red, white, and blue tricolor When United merged with Continental Airlines, it chose a more neutral color scheme to reflect its international reach, the white and blue.
Font
The current company logo shows the мmark in an elegant font with large serifs. The lines used for the letters vary in width: somewhere they are wider, somewhere they are narrower. In addition, most of the letters are lowercase, and only the letter ‘A’ of the second word is capitalized.
