Air Canada is today celebrating the 60th birthday of their iconic Maple Leaf ‘rondelle’ logo which first took flight on January 1st, 1965. Today, across airports worldwide, the airline is instantly identifiable by the bright red rondelle on the tailfins of their aircraft.
On Wednesday (January 1, 2025), Air Canada celebrated the 60th anniversary of their iconic Maple Leaf rondelle logo and brand identity. The instantly recognizable bright red rondelle first took to the skies on January 1st, 1965. Since its inception in 1937, the airline was known as Trans-Canada Air Lines, with the Crown Corporation officially changing the name to Air Canada in 1965, reflecting the fact that the airline had gone international. Along with the new name, management also wanted a new corporate emblem, one that would foster immediate public recognition.
In Wednesday’s announcement, Air Canada’s President and CEO, Michael Rousseau, said,
“Customers routinely tell us that no matter where they are in the world, as soon as they see the rondelle on an aircraft tail, they feel they are already at home. We take the responsibility of representing home to Canadians seriously, and we are immensely proud of the enduring longevity of such an iconic symbol.”
Air Canada’s new logo was designed by the firm of Stewart, Morrison and Roberts, which at the time was one of Canada’s leading brand consultants. The task fell to the firm’s Creative Director, Hans Kleefeld, who helped design logos for other major global brands. Air Canada’s leadership was presented with several different versions of the logo, and decided in the summer of 1964 on the stylized Maple Leaf surrounded by an open circle starting at the stem of the leaf. The new logo was revealed to the public in October 1964, and has since been modernized twice, once in 1993, and the current version in 2004.
Source: Air Canada