Belge Lloyd, also known in Dutch as Belgische Lloyd, was a Belgian insurance company whose visual identity was designed by the prominent Belgian graphic designer Paul Ibou. The logo is documented in the collection of Design Museum Gent, which holds Ibou’s “logotheek,” a series of three-dimensional logo objects he used to present his designs to clients.[1]
Design and History
The insurance company Le Lloyd Belge was founded in 1856 in Antwerp, as documented on the cartouche of its monumental headquarters building on the Meir.[2] The company’s corporate history continued through several name changes: it operated as Lloyd Belge from 1975, became Royale Belge 1994 in August 1994, and later Axa Royale Belge in 1999 before eventually adopting the AXA Belgium name.[3]
The logo for Belgische Lloyd was designed by Paul Ibou, who began his independent career as a graphic designer in 1962 under the pseudonym Paul Ibou (derived from the French word “hibou,” meaning owl).[4] Over his career, Ibou designed more than 350 logos for Belgian organizations.[4] The Design Museum Gent acquired his logotheek in 2019, which includes the three-dimensional presentation object for the Belgische Lloyd logo.[1]
Ibou was known for using these three-dimensional logo objects, most in plexiglass on a base, to convince clients of his designs.[4] The Belgische Lloyd logo object is dated to the 1970s in the museum’s collection records.[1]
Meaning and Symbolism
An earlier visual mark for the company is documented on the ceiling of the Le Lloyd Belge headquarters building in Antwerp, where reliefs integrate the company logo “LdB” and a heraldic dragon within a flame decoration.[5] The building’s facade also features sculptural figures with an anchor and an inverted torch, symbolizing the company’s main activities of marine and fire insurance.[5]
For the later Paul Ibou-designed logo, the museum documentation confirms it was created for the insurance company Belgische Lloyd but does not describe specific symbolic elements or design intent beyond its function as a corporate mark.[1]
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