The Story Of Air France’s Iconic Winged Seahorse Logo

I’m a huge fan of airline marketing and branding, and it’s something I probably pay more attention to than the average person (shocker, I know!). I love when an airline has a cool logo, whether it’s United Airlines’ old tulip logo, Delta’s widget, or Lufthansa’s crane. The reality is that most airlines significantly evolve their logos over the years, or even change them completely.

In this post, I want to talk a bit about Air France’s logo, which I think is the most elegant of any airline. The backstory is perhaps the coolest part, as it really emphasizes how timeless this logo is.

I love Air France’s winged seahorse logo!

Air France’s logo is a winged seahorse (hippocampe ailé), and its history dates back nearly 100 years, as I’ll cover below. Despite that, very little has changed about this over the years, and if anything, Air France is increasingly featuring this in various parts of the customer experience.

I think this is really cool for two reasons. First of all, I just think it’s a generally badass logo. It’s fun and mysterious, and in a way, sums up how airlines can connect the world, over land and sea.

Second of all, I’m just generally impressed by how widely Air France is using this logo. In many ways, you don’t even need to see the “Air France” name anymore, as so many customers touchpoints have the logo, and it’s an instant reminder of the airline.

You’ll see the logo just about everywhere, from the front of the aircraft fuselage…

…to engine cowlings and wingtips…

…to seat branding…

…to lounges…

…to inflight service items…

…and much more. You get the point. I can’t think of another airline in the world that uses its logo as consistently as Air France, and I think that’s really cool.

The history of Air France’s winged seahorse

Perhaps what I find most interesting about Air France’s winged seahorse logo is that it has been around for nearly 100 years. Heck, the logo has been around longer than the airline has had a name. How is that possible?

Well, Air France was founded in 1933, as a merger of five different French airlines — Aeropostale, Air Orient, Air Union, Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aerienne, and Societe Generale de Transports Aeriens. At the time, the decision was made to name the airline Air France, and as you’ll see below, even the carrier’s first planes had the winged seahorse logo prominently displayed.

The winged seahorse logo actually belonged to one of Air France’s predecessors, Air Orient, which commenced operations in 1929, prior to becoming part of Air France in 1933. Below is the Air Orient logo, and as you can see, almost nothing has changed compared to 100 years ago.

What’s the inspiration for the design of the winged seahorse? Going back to the days of Air Orient, there was disagreement as to whether airplanes or seaplanes were superior (it was obviously a very different time for aviation). So this logo was intended to reflect that, and also to demonstrate that the airline could essentially use the skies to fly over bodies of water, to make the world a smaller place.

Bottom line

There are some memorable airline logos out there, though as brands evolve, airlines often drop them (just look at United’s “tulip” logo from the pre-Continental merger days). What makes Air France’s winged seahorse logo unique is that it has more or less remained unchanged for nearly 100 years, and the airline is even increasingly leaning into this.

I just think that’s so cool, because it’s rare to see an airline stick with a concept for so long. I think this is what we call a timeless logo. Give me that and the Charles de Gaulle chime, and I’m one happy aviation geek.

Anyone else appreciate Air France’s winged seahorse as much as I do?