³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

Fans are everywhere, and their obsessions and passions have moved way beyond the innocent days of autograph collecting, or waiting by the stage door to catch a glimpse of Kylie Minogue.Ìý

Now their interests have become ever more niche, ever more obscure. If there’s one area that scores highly in the obscurity stakes, it’s the love of on air TV symbols. A group of dedicated fans follow the ins and outs, the comings and goings and the subtle changes of what is broadly known as ‘television presentation’, or to you and me ‘the bits in between TV programmes’, and they're passionate about it too. Theirs is a love of everything on air that embodies the values of a TV channel; on air clocks, promotional trails, announcements, and station graphics.

December 2nd 2013 is a pivotal date for fans of such things. It is sixty years since the first dedicated television symbol the 'bat's wings' went on air on the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Television Service (there was no ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One then). It caused something of a stir at the time, with letters to the press suggesting some viewers found the symbol rather frightening. With an all seeing 'eye' at the centre of a series of flashing 'wings', and enclosed in rotating curves, the effect was extraordinary, and was the product of months of thinking by graphic artist , of Festival of Britain fame.

NBC in the United States had got in before the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ with its on screen symbol, but nothing much happened when you looked at it. It was not quite a test card, but it was just as static, so the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ really broke the mould, taking a bold step into then then unknown world of channel identity.

That was back in 1953, but innovation didn't end there. The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ continued to push back the boundaries of TV presentation throughout the decades, again causing a storm in 1991 when it launched the extraordinary set of. Met with astonishment at the time, they are an ident fan's dream, and look set for many retrospectives of their own.

For those fans of a certain age however, it's the surrealist swirls of Abram Games’ masterpiece that really does it.

Happy Birthday to those curious 'bat’s wings' – you are 60 years old. You’ve made a lot of people very happy.

John Escolme is History Manager at the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

Ìý

• is documented on the History of the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ website, along with used over the years and of them all in action.Ìý
• Read more about the on the History of the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ website.

Ìý