For many decades, United Airlines has centered its brand image on a single color. The iconic “rhapsody blue” is highly representative of this American airline, which has mostly stuck to this color along with the occasional white tone. Over the next few years, United will introduce three shades of blue, one purple, one gray, and one violet tone to its branding palette.
United does not seem ready to abandon blue; in fact, the three new tones are named United, Pacific and Sky. The violet color is called Atlantic Amethyst, and it has already been spotted in a proposed redesign of the airline’s premium economy section. Purple colors have also been seen in cabin interiors, specifically on headrests. Crew uniforms may not feature the new colors for another two years, but the airline’s new website is expected to be redesigned with the new palette later this year.
According to a news article published by Forbes, the new colors chosen by United Airlines were communicated to employees earlier this week; the reasons for the visual upgrade include a desire to appear as a more memorable company. In the past, United employees have mentioned that adding new colors aside from rhapsody blue and white would be a good idea, particularly with regard to uniforms.
The rhapsody blue currently used by United Airlines can be seen on its aircraft, cabin, website, airport terminals, and corporate offices; it is a color inspired by the company’s headquarters in Chicago, a city where various other businesses also feature rhapsody blue as part of their visual branding.
Something interesting about the colors chosen by airlines around the world for their visual branding is that they tend to conform to regional preferences. By far, blue is the dominant logo color used by airlines in Europe and the Americas. In Asia and Oceania, red tends to be more common. In many cases, national airlines adopt the colors of country flags; a good example would be the green, red and white of Alitalia as well as the multicolored scheme of South African Airways…
