World Famous Logos

UPS Logo - Design and History

UPS Logo

The UPS logo is one of the most recognized logos in the world. The company along with Fedex has revolutionalized the way in which packages are delivered around the world. UPS has changed its login 4 times in the 96 years of the company's existence. The first logo was created in 1919 and showed an eagle carrying a package in its talons. Eighteen years later, in 1937, the logo was once again changed to incorporate a shield with the letters `UPS' within. The logo incorporating the beribboned parcel was designed in 1961 by well-known brand designer Paul Rand who was also responsible for designing the logos of IBM, Westinghouse and Yale University among others.

The new logo was designed by international brand consultancy Future Brand, which has worked with clients such as Walt Disney, GlaxoSmithKline, MSN and British Airways. The logo retains the famous `UPS brown' but replaces the package with a golden arc on top of the shield. The intention is to convey an impression of "freshness and excitement" that reflects the company's new vision of `synchronised commerce'. The new logo draws from the company's history, leverages its brand equity and uses its traditional colours to suggest a company that is thinking ahead and is leading the way in package delivery and other businesses. "The arc at the top and the use of light suggest energy and forward-thinking qualities on a global scale. The redeveloped logo is, in fact, just the cornerstone of the company's reinvigorated visual system.

UPS' association with the colour brown goes back to the early years of the company's existence. When the company expanded its delivery fleet, its founders were faced with the task of deciding on what colour to paint their vehicles. Following some discussion, they zeroed in on brown or yellow as the colours most appropriate for their fleet. However, one of the founders pointed out that brown was a better bet. In fact, railway carriages of the time were painted brown simply because it was easier to keep them clean, he explained. And so brown it was! In fact, the company has the colour brown trademarked and it appears on shade cards in the US as `UPS brown'!

The logo on this page is a registered trademark. Use of the logo here does not imply endorsement of the organization by this site.

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