The Kangaroo
To identify TAA was to be the Australian National Airline Carrier, the logo was designed to show that it would fly North, South, East and West, indicated by the arrows, and the Kangaroo, being the national emblem, was overlaid on a map of Australia.
Over the years this would be modified with various liveries, and one period would not include the kangaroo.
The coming of the turbo-prop era in the 1950's required a revision of the logo, simplifying the identity of TAA, and matching the changing times.
The kangaroo was retained, and redesigned removing the up arrow and map, and altering the font and style to portray that TAA was heading forward into the Jet era.
Throughout the years the Kangaroo emblem has appeared on all aircraft, except for a brief period between 1981 and 1986 when a different livery was introduced. With the coming of the AIRBUS A300B4 in 1981, a new livery was the order of the day, and the kangaroo was removed. This new livery was intended to 'futurize' TAA's image along with the new colour scheme on all aircraft.
This new logo proved to be very unpopular with both staff and the general public, but this situation remained until the airline changed its name to AUSTRALIAN Airlines in 1986, and the Kangaroo was returned, larger than ever before, on the tail of every aircraft.
This was so important that the following add was commissioned
The arrival of the 'new' kangaroo in 1986 with the delivery of the Boeing 737 VH-TBF returned Australia's emblem back to Australia's skies.
