Brewin Dolphin was a British wealth management firm whose visual identity centered on a dolphin symbol, a reference to the company name that was formed in 1974 when Brewin & Co merged with Wontner, Dolphin & Francis. The firm traces its broader heritage back to 1762. In September 2022, Brewin Dolphin was acquired by the Royal Bank of Canada and became known as RBC Brewin Dolphin, a change that also brought a new brand identity. [1]
Design and History
The Brewin Dolphin logo featured a dolphin as its central symbol, directly echoing the company name. The mark was used across the firm’s offices in the UK, Channel Islands and Ireland, appearing on client correspondence and digital platforms. [2]
The most significant change to the identity came in 2022. Following the completion of the Royal Bank of Canada acquisition on 27 September 2022, the company was renamed RBC Brewin Dolphin and received a brand makeover. The dolphin was removed from the logo entirely. The new mark adopted the RBC corporate identity, displaying an illustration of a lion holding a globe in blue and yellow, with the letters RBC underneath in white. [2]
Prior to the acquisition, Brewin Dolphin had explored other branding directions. In 2014, the company considered a rebrand as part of a direct-to-consumer push, with plans that included renaming the company and dropping the word “Dolphin” from its name. [3] Those plans did not come to fruition before the RBC acquisition.
Meaning and Symbolism
The dolphin symbol in the pre-2022 Brewin Dolphin logo was a direct visual reference to the company name, which itself derived from the merger of Brewin & Co with Wontner, Dolphin & Francis in 1974. [1] The dolphin served as a literal representation of the corporate name rather than an abstract mark.
After the 2022 acquisition, the symbolism shifted entirely to the Royal Bank of Canada’s established corporate iconography. The lion holding a globe is the RBC brand emblem, and its adoption marked the integration of Brewin Dolphin into the broader RBC corporate identity. [2]
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