Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), the public broadcasting corporation for the Free State of Bavaria, has used a wordmark-style logo built around the letters “BR” since the early 1960s. The current identity, introduced in the 2020s, modernizes that heritage while keeping the blue color and the core letterform intact.
Design and History
The BR logo’s origins trace to an abstract mark designed by Richard Roth in 1962, which was later placed in a frame with text in 1968 and modified again in 1993.[1] The 1962 design was an abstract symbol rather than a letter-based mark; the recognizable “BR” combination emerged through subsequent refinements.
In 2007, BR introduced a new umbrella logo consisting of the letter combination “B” and “R” without any graphic addition, designed by the Frankfurt agency Citigate Demuth.[2] The previous logo had been in use since 1963 with a light modification in 1983.[2] The 2007 redesign was prompted by surveys showing that many people recognized the logo but could not identify the letters “BR” within it.[2]
In 2022, BR commissioned the Berlin agency Stan Hema to develop an overarching design system for the broadcaster.[3] The visual brand heritage, consisting of the BR logo, the color blue and the corporate typeface The Sans, was carefully modernized and further developed.[3] The rebranding marked a strategic change: for the first time, all services and activities were consistently associated with the BR umbrella brand.[3]
As part of this system, the radio station logos were harmonized in 2024, with the “BR” wordmark now preceding each station identifier (such as “BR 1,” “BR 2,” “BR 3”).[4] The blue house color was updated to a saturated ultramarine blue.[4]
Meaning and Symbolism
The three basic geometric shapes of the BR logo, circle, square and triangle, were used to create a modular design kit with a continuous grid.[3] This geometric vocabulary also characterizes the broadcaster’s motion design, which uses consistent circles, squares and triangles derived from the logo’s form elements.[5]
When the 2007 logo was introduced, BR stated that the overall impression was intended to position the company as “weltoffenes, sympathisches und zukunftsorientiertes Unternehmen” (a cosmopolitan, likeable and future-oriented company), while also representing the values of tradition, homeland, culture and education.[2]
Typography and Design
The corporate typeface The Sans has been part of BR’s visual identity and was modernized as part of the 2022 design system developed by Stan Hema.[3] All station identifiers in the harmonized radio logos are set in The Sans.[4] On BR’s website, the font Open Sans replaced Arial in the digital presence.[4]
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