Originally Posted by
steve64
I'll bet the term "tulip" was coined here on FT
The logo is 2 "U"s overlaid on each other to signify that they have been "united".
The person who designed the "tulip" also did another airline's logo (maybe several others ??). That airline had a name that implied a somewhat regional presence though their route network (or at least the network they dreamed of at the time) stretched across the world. So the logo designed was a partial globe ... a globe to represent a "global" route network, but only a partial globe to represent the implied "regionality" of the name. That logo was designed around 1991 and is still in use today ... ironically, with United Airlines.
Actually, Saul Bass (the designer) is the one who called it the tulip.
He did also design a globe for Bob Six at Continental, but it was not the current globe. Yes, CO still uses a globe, but not the same one. The current CO (and now United) globe was designed by the branding firm LippincottMercer in 1991.
Here is Bass's globe:
Here is Bass's original tulip:
