Delta’s new brand is older than you think! Did you know that the triangle shape of the current logo goes back to Delta’s start as a crop-dusting company in the mid-1920s?.
This framed logo is actually a fabric piece cut from the side of a Delta crop-duster. The logo was painted on the plane’s “skin” of dope and fabric.
Nicknamed the “Huffer Puffer” logo, it features Thor, the Norse god of thunder, war and agriculture. Thor symbolized the fight against the boll weevil insect in the cotton fields of the southern United States.
This aircraft skin piece is housed at the Delta Air Transport Heritage Museum in Atlanta.
To see more Delta logos and aircraft paint schemes from the 1920s to today, go to the Delta Museum’s timelines.
Marie Force
Archives Manager
Delta Air Transport Heritage Museum
October 1st, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Hi,
I was wondering if you could share some background on how the new Delta brand was designed? Why an all red widget instead of the traditional blue/red design? Thanks.
October 1st, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Like many companies in America, Delta’s history runs deep in this country with overwhelming graciousness, pride and a sense of hope for the future of what is to come. Everybody can be thankful for the southern hospitality and strong work ehtic and it all started with a great man named C.E. Woolman.
October 1st, 2007 at 5:43 pm
I always assumed that the “triangle shape” logo was a derivative of the greek letter delta, or Δ. Most commonly, in mathematics, Δ means “the change in value” of a number. Or, simply Δ is often used as shorthand for change or difference amongst math and science types.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:48 pm
A comic retrospect on the triangle might have been to underscore three pillars of the company’s crop dusting objectives back in the day: Namely, “Hear no weevil, See no weevil, Speak no weevil.”
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Heythisisnate,
You are right in that Delta got its name from the Mississippi Delta region, so I am assuming that the triangle logo arose from that. My guess is that they went back and added the legend on the triangle sides. With the modern day widget symbol (well like me it isn’t so modern anymore), we were told the blue represented the sky, the red was the exhaust of a jet, and I think the white represented clouds.
Marie, is the old “flying D” logo still inlaid in what was the entrance to the old headquarters building, or has that been torn down now?
ex-Deltoid Brian
October 3rd, 2007 at 1:24 am
I have had the privilege of going to the DL Hertiage Museum, and even got to go aboard the restored DL DC3. Both the museum and that old airplane are treasures.
I’d love to see DL do more “retrojets.” The “Flying D” livery, DC8 delivery scheme, Chicago & Southern and Northeast Yellowbird liveries would all look striking on today’s modern aircraft.
October 4th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Royal-jet
don’t forget the Western “Indian Head” livery, and the Convair 880 Royal Crown livery.
Brian
November 5th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
So nice to hear from enthusiasts of vintage Delta stuff (and apologies for the late response on my part)!
cemm6997: One of our Marketing folks will share background on the design of the new all-red widget logo.
blusk: Yes, the 1940s logo is still in place in the lobby floor of the Delta Executive Building at headquarters.
Did everyone see Delta’s 75th anniversary retro-livery on its Boeing 767 The Spirit of Delta in 2004? It replicated Delta’s early 1940s DC-3 livery. If you missed it, go to http://www.airliners.net and search for Photo ID: 0561328.
The challenge with that livery was replicating in gray paint the look of the DC-3’s unpainted, polished aluminum. Tommy Vinci, a Delta aircraft refinishing foreman described the process in a recent e-mail to me:
“Marie, the ‘polished look’ was accomplished by using a four step painting process. First a primer coat was applied, then a gray top coat. After this was dry they applied the ’sparkle coat’ which was made of silica particles. The trick there was to insure they achieved a consistent and even coat so that once we applied the last coat of paint, which was clear, it all reflected the same. I remember that all we heard from the mechanics and everyone else that came by to see it before it went in to service was how good it looked.”
November 18th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Marie:
Thanks for the link to the old logos.
Hopefully, someone with a sense of history (and graphics) will reinstate the tri colored widget.
It’s a shame to see some highly paid marketing “expert” create such an unappealing and unattractive version of the Delta logo.
In the meantime, possibly we should start a campaign similar to the “Keep Delta My Delta” effort.
When we do, sign me up!
December 14th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Yes, please bring back the proper tri-colored widget!