The Barclays logo alludes to the era of kings and knights during which the institution was born. Duty and honor for the company are not empty words. They helped the bank rise up and maintain its leading position for centuries.
Barclays: Brand overview
Founded: | 17 November 1690 |
Headquarters: |
London, England, UK |
Website: | home.barclays |
Meaning and History
It all began with the fact that in 1896 several English banks decided to merge and form a joint-stock financial institution Barclays and Co. The group included Gurney Bank, Backhouse, and Bank Goslings Bank. The new structure expanded to become a nationwide bank with its own identity, charter, and services in the following years. Moreover, it was the first institution that used an ATM (in 1967).
Until that time, Quaker John Freame and Thomas Gould opened a business of bankers-jewelers in London on Lombard Street. James Barclay, John Freame’s son-in-law, later joined them, who played a key role in the bank’s development. Under him, he moved into a building marked with the Black Spread Eagle, which forever became the basis of the corporate emblem. This happened in 1728. And in 1736, the financial institution received its current name.
To become a powerful structure, the new player in the market made several important corporate acquisitions. In 1918, he acquired London, Provincial and South Western Bank’s, in 1919 – British Linen Bank, in 1975 – Mercantile Credit, in 2000 – Woolwich and 2008 – North American department. Lehman Brothers. Gradually, the sign of the black eagle began to spread everywhere, marking every important milestone with a redesign. In total, there are five logos.
What is Barclays?
Barclays is a full-service financial firm. It has two main divisions: British and International.
the 1960s – 1970
Presented in the 60s, the emblem consists of the bank’s name, executed in wide elongated letters in the upper case. The inscription is located in two lines: the first contains “Barclays,” the second – “Bank” with a miniature icon. The symbol looks like an eagle with spread wings, and head turned to the left. It features three imperial crowns. But because of the space in the second row, the logo is perceived as heavy and unfinished.
1968 – 1970
This version was used for some time in parallel with the previous logo. It consists of the same elements but is rearranged differently. The developers placed the heraldic bird in the center above the financial institution’s name and changed the font. They chose thin caps with serifs for the inscription.
1970 – 1999
In 1970, the designers added color to the logo, approving one of the shades of light blue. There is an incomplete name of the financial institution in the aqua horizontal rectangle – only its first part. The word “Barclays” is in white serif letters. The font is bold, uppercase. On the left side is a blue square with a heraldic eagle, which depicts three crowns.
1999 – 2002
The designers experimented with both shape and color. They placed a fragment of an eagle in a circle, decorated with highlights and gradient transitions from ultramarine to cobalt. The name of the bank was placed below and written in fluid italics with elongated strokes. This combination perfectly balanced the emblem.
2002 – today
The current version of the logo is considered the most successful because it is more official than the others. The developers were able to achieve this effect because they removed the bird’s paws from the drawing and greatly expanded the tail. They also removed the crowns from it and added two rounded protrusions to the wings. The word “Barclays” is written in the same style as before, with “L” and “A” connected at the bottom.
Font and Colors
All logo modifications are minor changes to the debut version with the heraldic bird and company name. As a result, the designers came up with a simple logo with no background or small details. This choice is associated with the best visual perception of banking symbols on any media.
The typeface used in the logo is very close to the Baker Signet Regular serif glyph. This is the development of designer Arthur Baker. Bitstream first published it.
The bank’s signature palette is several shades of blue. The lightest is aquamarine; the most intense is dark cobalt. In some versions, there are gradient transitions between them.
Barclays color codes
Picton Blue | Hex color: | #00aff1 |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 0 175 241 | |
CMYK: | 100 27 0 5 | |
Pantone: | PMS 801 C |
Why is the Barclays logo an eagle?
The eagle, represented on the bank’s logo, appeared at the end of the 17th century. At that time, most people were illiterate, so different symbols were depicted on the signs instead of inscriptions. Barclays used the so-called Sign of the Black Spread Eagle.
When was Barclays founded?
The history of Barclays dates back to 1690, when jewelers opened the bank. But some believe that Barclays was founded on July 20, 1896, because it was then that several financial institutions merged under the name Barclays and Co.
What does Barclays do?
Financial company Barclays accepts deposits, issues cards, and loans, is engaged in insurance and investment banking. This is just a small part of the complete list of services.
How old is Barclays?
Barclays Bank is over 330 years old.