The Sun Logo PNG
The world-renowned The Sun logo represents the newspaper as a reliable and authoritative news source. The visual symbol reflects the dynamism of information delivery, aiming to attract readers’ attention and stimulate interest in the content.
The Sun launched on 15 September 1964 as the successor to the Daily Herald, a left-leaning newspaper with a 50-year history. The Trades Union Congress sold its stake to IPC, which relaunched the title for a younger readership. The first issue carried the slogan “The newspaper born of the age we live in.” Circulation started near 1.5 million, but by 1969 it had fallen to about 850,000, with losses above £2 million a year.
IPC, which also owned the Daily Mirror, chose to sell. Robert Maxwell and Rupert Murdoch both pursued the paper. Still, Murdoch won union approval and bought The Sun in November 1969 for about £800,000. On 17 November 1969, he relaunched it as a tabloid, with Larry Lamb as editor. The paper featured punchy headlines, short stories, photos, crime and celebrity coverage, and sports coverage. Within a year, circulation passed 1.5 million again.
On 17 November 1970, The Sun introduced its first topless Page Three photograph, which would later become one of the paper’s most disputed features. By the late 1970s, daily circulation had reached four million. In 1978, the paper backed Margaret Thatcher’s Conservatives. In January 1986, Murdoch moved The Sun, The Times, Sunday Times, and News of the World from Fleet Street to Wapping, triggering a 54-week strike by print workers and changing British newspaper production.
The paper’s darkest episode came after the Hillsborough disaster in April 1989, when it published false claims about Liverpool fans. The 2012 inquiry found those claims were based on lies, and Merseyside’s boycott cut local sales sharply. In 1997, The Sun backed Tony Blair’s “Labour”. In 2011, the phone-hacking scandal hit News International, News of the World closed, and The Sun on Sunday launched in February 2012.
Meaning and History
Like any other print publication, The Sun places its logo at the top of the front page of each issue. It is also used in the newspaper’s digital version and on its YouTube channel. The visual symbol contains the brand name, set in bold sans-serif letters. Throughout the history of The Sun, the font has undergone a series of changes: initially, it was vertically elongated, then the designers squashed it, and after 1969, a bold italic was adopted. The emblem’s bright color has become iconic, with a red rectangle serving as the basis for the white inscription since 1992.
What is The Sun?
The Sun is a popular daily newspaper from the United Kingdom. It has been around since 1964, and since 1969, it has been published in tabloid format. Its owner is News Corp UK & Ireland Limited. The publication has regional issues for the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. Originally, the newspaper was positioned as politically neutral, but over time, it began to support various parties. The core of its views is Euroscepticism, populism, and conservatism.
1964 – 1966
In the mid-1960s, The Sun was a broadsheet newspaper with a large gray logo in the upper-left corner of the first page. It contained the name of the print publication without the article “The.” The inscription was made in bold sans-serif font. The letters were narrow, as were the spaces between them.
1966 – 1969
The word “SUN” remained gray, but its appearance changed. Designers balanced the glyphs’ width and height, giving them a square shape. At the same time, the font became bolder. It was used to enhance visual impact and attract readers’ attention in a competitive media environment.
1969 – 1992
In 1969, Rupert Murdoch bought the newspaper and relaunched it in tabloid format. The new design was copied from the Daily Mirror, so the logo acquired a rectangular base, just like the competitor’s emblem. On the background of the quadrilateral was the beige-colored phrase “THE Sun.” The article was reduced and occupied the space above the “u.” The letters in the word “Sun” gained smooth, rounded edges, completely unlike the old rectangular font. At the same time, they remained bold and still lacked serifs. The right-leaning inscription underscored the publication’s energetic, active character.
1992 – today
As a result of the redesign, the logo became more balanced: the inscription is now centered within the rectangle. For this, the designers had to slightly reduce the letters, narrow the spaces between them, and move the article closer to the “u.” The bright red base highlights the newspaper’s white name, making it more readable.
Font and Colors
The designers used a modified version of the Franklin Gothic Heavy Italic font for the wordmark. Bold sans-serif letters convey strength and confidence, emphasizing The Sun’s authority as a source of information. A slight slant creates a sense of dynamism, which corresponds to the character of a news newspaper, where events are constantly changing.
The combination of red and white exactly corresponds to the colors of the Daily Mirror’s emblem. It’s a fitting choice for a printed publication, as red symbolizes the importance of the information and attracts attention, while white conveys reliability and neutrality.