History

1929

Delta Air Service founded in 1928; started passenger service on June 17, 1929. Logo featured Mercury, the Roman god of travel and commerce. The triangle represented the "D" of the Greek alphabet, which is "delta."

1930

Delta crop-dusting logo (originally created for predecessor Huff Daland Dusters in 1925). Thor, the Norse god of thunder, war and agriculture, symbolizes the fight against the boll weevil insect destroying the cotton field of the southern United States in the 1920s.

1935

Luggage label with prototype version of Delta's winged triangle/Greek D logo. This label also promoted flying Delta for "Speed, Comfort, and Convenience."

1935-1951

Winged triangle shape represents the Greek letter "delta." From 1935-1939, the inscription "AM 24" (Air Mail Route 24) was often included inside the triangle.

1945-1953

Flying D logo. Many variations of this logo appeared up to 1959.

1953-1955

Delta-C&S logo. Chicago & Southern Air Lines merged with Delta on May 1, 1953. For two years, the airline was known as Delta-C&S for name recognition over the former C&S routes.

1955-1959

Return to the Flying D logo used before merger with Chicago and Southern Air Lines.

Flying D logo gradually phased out as the widget logo (below) evolved from a jet service product logo into the company's brand during the 1959-1962 period. For example, you can see the Flying D logo still in use on the covers of Delta's early 1962 timetables.

1959

1959-1968

Sideways widget logo represented the speed of jets. First appeared in Delta's ads for jet service in 1959, often with the Royal Jet Service logo. At least two early variations of this logo have been found: one placed the widget to the right of the airline name, the other placed the widget between the words "Delta" and "Air Lines" By 1960, this logo was often shown with the slogan "the air line with the BIG JETS"

1959-1970s

Small widget over or on left side of the company name.

See an early use of the widget as Delta's company brand on the front and back covers of the 1959 Annual Report, published in September 1959.

1962-mid 1960s

1962-1993

Large widget extending over top of the word DELTA. "AIR LINES" may be included in smaller letters.

1976

1985-1991

Signature Service logo introduced on April 1, 1985, for use on "passenger visible" items inside the aircraft, like dishes, flatware and menus, and on ticket counter items, such as boarding passes, bag tags and timetables. Not used on aircraft exterior or facility signage.

1987-1993

Widget + DELTA. In 1990-1993, the DELTA letters were in bold.

1993-1995

Full corporate name logo in use until March 1995.

1995-2000

Updated version of the full corporate name logo in use from March 1995-March 2000.

2000-2004

Soft widget logo in use from March 2000 to July 2004.

2004-2007

Heritage Widget adopted in July 2004, based on employee feedback and nostalgia associated with Delta's 75th anniversary on June 17, 2004. In use until April 30, 2007.

2007-Present

The 3-dimensional red widget logo, launched on April 30, 2007, reflects Delta's successful transformation into a highly-differentiated, customer-focused airline.  See the Delta Brand Fact Sheet 2007