UPS Logo

The first UPS “shield” logo was created in 1916 when its founder Jim Casey merged the company with a local rival delivery service. That UPS logo featured a shield and an eagle carrying a package with the words “SAFE, SWIFT, SURE” inscribed on the side. The famous shield used in the first UPS logo continues to be used even today and UPS employees often refer to the UPS logo as ‘the shield’.

The second UPS logo was introduced around 1937 and displayed “UPS” for United Parcel Service on it. By that time, the company had grown enormously and was also providing delivery of merchandise for multiple retail department stores. Thus the phrase, “THE DELIVERY SYSTEM FOR STORES OF QUALITY”, was later incorporated in the UPS logo to signify the growth of the company.

Renowned brand designer, Paul Rand, designed the third and more simplified version of the UPS logo in 1961. The newly renovated UPS logo featured ‘a bow-tied package above the familiar shield to express the mission of the company’: of offering package delivery as its sole service.
‘As part of the rebranding, UPS adopted its fourth UPS logo, marking the first change in the UPS logo in 42 years’. On March 25, 2003, UPS with the help of FutureBrand, unveiled its new corporate identity with a new UPS logo. The most significant change, in the new UPS logo, was the removal of the bow-tied package above the UPS shield. Ironically “the bow”, which had become one of the most recognized features of the UPS logo, has been subjected to refusal by UPS over decades as the string refrain UPS’s abilities to represent itself in various supply chain services. Additionally, though the decision for its removal is not entirely based on this, the string in the bow-tied package can get caught in UPS’s high-speed sorting machinery. The new UPS logo symbolizes UPS’s expansion from package delivery into a broader array of supply chain services.

But one thing in the UPS logo that has remained constant is its logo color and that is brown. The Brown color in the UPS logo is the trademark of the company and is often erroneously referred to as Pantone color 0607298 (0607298 is not a valid Pantone number). While brown is the primary color of UPS, other new, complementary colors were also introduced to the designs of other UPS company assets such as aircraft and packages.

The current UPS logo express speed; and its transformation is one of the most significant achievements made by the company. No doubt, the UPS Logo is one of the most seen and recognized brands on the globe.