BP Logo PNG
The logo of the British multinational oil and gas company BP has gone a long way from a simple black-and-white wordmark to a vivid and meaningful symbol.
Meaning and history
BP, one of the world’s most famous players in the gas and oil industry, was established in 1909 after oil was discovered in Persia the year before. It was this event that laid the foundation of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, which was later transformed into British Petroleum and now — simply BP.
What is BP?
BP is the new official name of British Petroleum, a strong and reputable company, operating in the oil and gas sector since the beginning of the 20th century. Today the company has its presence worldwide, with gas stations in dozens of countries across the globe. BP is one of the world’s leaders in the industry.
1909 – 1920
The logo, used by the BP predecessor, BP Motor Spirit, was introduced in 1909 and stayed in use for almost a decade. It was a simple yet heavy and stable badge, with the three-level inscription written in bold black title case letters, set in a bold rounded sans-serif typeface. The wordmark was placed on a plain white background and enclosed into a square black frame with the angles slightly softened.
1920 – 1930
During the first 90 years of its history, the letters “BP” (the initials of “British Petroleum”) were the centerpiece of the BP logo. Originally, the company used the letters in black on the white background. They were given inside a pair of quotation marks. The emblem would have looked utterly generic if not for the unique glyphs with distinctive sharp serifs and diamond-shaped corners.
1930 – 1947
In 1930, the emblem was slightly modified by AR Saunders. The core (including the quotation marks) remained unchanged, but now it was placed inside a shield shape. The shield had a thin black outline, which seemed a bit weak in comparison with the bold letters.
1947 – 1961
The following version of the BP logo, which was adopted in 1947, seemed to have solved the issue. Now, the shield looked more prominent and made a better fit for the letters. It was the first time that a colorful emblem was introduced. The letters and the outline of the shield featured a slightly muted shade of yellow, while the background was dark green. Also, the shield shape had two additional outlines. The outer one was black, while the one that could be seen from the inside featured a darker shade of green creating an effect of a shadow.
1961 – 1989
The redesign of 1961 was all about calming down the color palette of the BP visual identity. The classy crest with a pointed top border was painted in a deep and dark shade of green and got its lively yellow outline removed. As for the stylized massive BP abbreviation, it gained smoother contours, and a calmer shade of yellow, which, with the erased black shadowing, started looking more serious and professional.
1989 – 2000
In 1989, the BP oil logo was modified once again, this time by the design company Siegel & Gale, also known for such logos as Playstation, Pfizer, AARP, Dolce, and Monster. Now, lighter shades of green and yellow were used, while the text “BP” was italicized.
2000 – Today
In 2000, a new era started in the BP logo history. Gone were the shield design and the capital letters. Now, the focal point of the logotype was a flower shape in bright shades of green and yellow. The text “BP” was lowercased and moved to the top right corner. The brand identity was developed by Landor Associates.
Font
The type used for the letters “BP” on the old logos had a distinctive and memorable shape, and yet, by the end of the previous century, it looked somewhat old-fashioned. So, it is only natural that the new logo features a sleek contemporary font.
Colors
The BP logo evolution, to a large extent, was the evolution of the color palette. The original black-and-white scheme was replaced by a combination of green and yellow in 1947. Although the basic colors have stayed the same ever since, there was a lot of experimenting with the shades until in 1989 the company decided to stick to joyful and vivid tones of green and yellow. In 2000, the palette was enriched with one more shade, which was a combination of the two main colors.
