Canara Bank is an Indian public sector bank headquartered in Bengaluru, founded in 1906. Its current visual identity, introduced in late 2007, replaced a mark that had been in use for roughly 40 years and represents the fourth logo in the bank’s history.[1]
Design and History
The current Canara Bank logo was unveiled in December 2007 by Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram at a function in Bangalore.[2] It was created by brand consultants Ray + Kesavan, a WPP-owned firm.[2] The mark depicts two entwined triangles, one rich blue and the other bright yellow.[2]
The redesign was driven by research commissioned by the bank roughly two years earlier, which found that customers retained an outdated perception of Canara Bank as a traditional public sector bank despite its newer products and services. The bank decided a new brand positioning and identity were necessary.[1] The consultants generated 32 logo options, which were short-listed to six before a symbol of two seamlessly connected links representing a bond was chosen.[1]
The previous logo, which carried the catchphrase “Serving to Grow, Growing to Serve,” had lasted 40 years.[1] The new identity also introduced the advertising tagline “Together We Can.”[3]
Meaning and Symbolism
The logo symbolises the bond between the bank and its stakeholders, including customers, employees, investors, institutions and society at large.[2] The rich blue connotes stability, scale and depth, while the bright yellow depicts optimism, warmth and energy.[3] The identity is based on the idea of a bond and togetherness, representing the close ties between the bank and its many stakeholders.[3]
Research conducted during the design process found that while there was little recall of the bank’s previous logo, customers remembered the colour blue. This led to the use of a fresher sky blue in the new identity.[4]
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