Logo Spotlight: NBC Peacock

Year and Designer: 1956 by John J. Graham
Redesigned: 1979
Redesigned: 1986 by Chermayeff and Geismar

About: With a logo as good as this who wouldn’t be as proud as a peacock.  NBC has a long history of many logos ranging from the microphone to the N and the now famous peacock.  You may be asking why NBC chose a peacock to represent a broadcasting company.  The peacock at the time was used to show viewers that NBC was being shown in color.

When color was being introduced it was a big deal, imagine today not watching a football game in HD.  NBC’s peacock worked amazingly at conveying the luxury of color television at the time.  Even today with NBC’s latest campaign their tagline is “more colorful”

1956

1979

1986-present

The Design: At first the peacock had eleven feathers and the peacock’s head was looking to the left.  In 1986 the peacock underwent a redesign.  The head of the peacock now looks to the right to symbolize forward looking. The feathers were reduced to six to represent the divisions of the company at the time:

• News
• Sports
• Entertainment
• Stations
• Network
• Production

The peacock logo has earned its place in society as being one of the most recognizable symbols around.

Read More: The NBC Peacock The Colorful Story Behind a Broadcasting Icon

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