State Farm Insurance has a presence that goes back farther than most of us can remember, a presence that is as much a part of life as classic holiday movies, comfort food, and beloved grandparents. It’s sort of funny to think of an insurance company that way, but there’s no getting around the fact that the State Farm logo and its jingle weave in and out of our lives like the clouds and an afternoon breeze. Let’s take a closer look at that logo and the company it represents. It goes deeper than insurance.

State Farm Insurance is one of the best-known American insurance carriers and has been so for many decades. As a matter of fact, it is coming up on a 100-year anniversary, having been formed in 1922. It was founded by a retired farmer named George J. Mecherle and was initially a mutual automobile insurance company specifically for farmers.

It was set up to be owned by its policyholders, meaning it doesn’t answer to stockholders. No stock is sold. Management is primarily concerned with satisfying the collective policyholders. State Farm broadened its services through the years, offering life insurance and insurance for homeowners fairly early in its history. Life insurance was first instituted in 1929 and homeowner’s insurance in 1935.

Our research would suggest there was no standard State Farm logo from the inception of the company until at least the mid-1940s. If there was, it’s not being displayed on any State Farm promotional material. The State Farm logo with which we are so familiar was designed in 1953 and was a moderate revision of the 1940’s model. It was probably a team effort because neither the company website nor any other source we found names a specific person who created it.

At the time, State Farm was still considered an insurance company only. They were offering the three basic policies as named above: auto, life, and home. These were featured on the logo, each encased in its own oval and each of those were interlocking, outlined in red. It also identified State Farm as “State Farm Insurance.”

The logo was bright red on a background of white, with a squarish border also of red. The design worked for the company as it continued to grow. The image was seen in advertising, on agency signs, at catastrophe sites, and on many customers’ automobile bumpers, building trust based on its stability.

The stability of the State Farm logo did nothing to stimulate the evolution of the iconic design. Approximately 58 years passed before the company found it necessary to make a change. If it hadn’t been for this digital aspect of the Information Age, the old logo may still be in place.The company’s consistent, stable growth means there is a wide age range of customers, young and old and everything between. Advertising platforms have, of course, expanded to social media and other digital applications. It had become evident that the old design should be tweaked to make it more user-friendly on all platforms.

State Farm is thought of primarily as an insurance company still today even though it offers so many more major services. The evolution of the State Farm logo enables the company to maintain the name recognition it has earned while opening itself to a more general interpretation by the public as the broad-based company it has become. This is an excellent example of how important a logo can be to a company. If done wrong, a logo can limit the perception of the organization by the people who are potential consumers – the lifeblood of the enterprise.On the other hand, a logo can potentially convey all the company is and could be for the people who are considering the use of its products or services. When you consider that a top-flight graphic design firm took two years to complete this project of updating an already highly regarded State Farm logo, making fairly subtle changes, it emphasizes just how important a logo is to a business.In this case, an established giant in the insurance field, one that is ranked 36th by the Fortune 500 list of the largest companies in terms of revenue, found it so important to get it right that it used the elite outside firm and probably paid dearly for two years of painstaking work. The logo cannot be taken lightly.

Often, logos have a long history and change from time to time. The American Airlines logo too has undergone some significant and some not so significant changes since its inception. Its meaning and evolution has been in line with what the country symbolizes and wants to showcase to the world- growth, progress and unity.

About the American Airlines Brand

The first American Airlines flight on April 15, 1926 was one that carried mail from Missouri to Illinois. After almost eight to ten years of carrying cargo, the airline moved to ferrying passengers. The first commercial service took place in a D-C 3 plane on June 25, 1936 from New York to Chicago. It was after World War II that American Airlines flew its first overseas passenger flight, to Europe.

American Airlines Logo Design History

Pilots and flight attendants working for American Airlines have for a long time been seen as heroes of the sky and being associated with the airline has been been a matter of privilege for everyone. The American Airlines logo has been an iconic symbol of flying pride. The winged “AA” logo of American Airlines has been its identity for many decades.

Colors and Significance of the Original American Airlines Logo

The famous American Airlines logo was created in 1967 by Italian graphic designer Massimo Vignelli. Thirty years later, in 1997, American Airlines bought the domain name AA.com and branded the company website with its emblem.

This logo had the letters AA (one letter in red and the other in blue) in Helvetica font (which was new then), with an eagle in between.

The red color represents passion, energy and vitality while the blue signifies duty, trust and care. The eagle, a popular American symbol for the country’s growth and great leaps of progress has been part of the American Airlines logo since its inception. This has been a solid symbol of American Airlines for over 45 years.

American Airlines Logo Design Evolution

Constantly changing your brand design does not give customers a feeling of permanence or long-term association. That is the reason most brands stick to one specific logo design for a long time. It helps them be identifiable to their clientele. A brand’s logo is the company’s trademark that is to be printed on everything- from boarding passes to stationery. It is crucial to a brand’s graphic identity. And if it works well, there is no need for regular logo changes.

American Airlines too used the same popular logo for more than 45 years, building trust and loyalty amongst flyers.

Since the airline started, the American Airlines logo has been changed five times, the most recent re-branding being in 2013.

Conclusion

The FutureBrand Group believes that the new symbol truly portrays the essence and spirit of American Airlines, while honoring the airline’s heritage at the same time. But a large number of people are of the opinion that redesigning the brand logo was not really necessary and that Massimo Vignelli’s 1967 emblem was the best and most instantly recognizable. It takes time for people to accept a change as big as this after having seen a brand close to their heart stick to the same emblem for more than 45 years.

Nevertheless, the American Airlines logo has received widespread acclaim for its elegance, subtlety and the feel of movement or progress it gives because of its eagle in motion.

Featured Image: Image via Flickr

History can be rewritten, and done so in a manner that gets the attention of old and young, hip and square. Perhaps the only ones who will not find the musical Hamilton entertaining and informative will be those bloodless professor emeriti of history who insist that the story of Alexander Hamilton’s America be as bloodless and boring as they. History, art, and advertising have successfully collaborated to design a logo that captures the passion and power, precariousness and possibility surrounding the tempestuous relationships between Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, and others of the time. The image that represents the musical has a history of its own. It’s the Hamilton logo.