Avianca Guatemala Logo

Avianca is the major Guatemalan airline, and also the oldest to still exist. Thanks to this long history and experience, the company now operates across the two continents of the Western hemisphere. This history is bizarre and confusing – the company having changed the name at least three times throughout the years.

Meaning and History

‘Avianca’ is just a neat word derived from ‘avia’ – which in turn is just indicative of the airplanes. The company started in 1929, although it wasn’t known as Avianca back then. In 1945, it was renamed to ‘Aviateca’, which was just a combination of words ‘Aviacion’ and ‘Guatemalteca’. The current name was given to it in 2013.

1945 – 2013

The most recognizable Aviateca logo was composed of two parts: the writing and the emblem.

The writing was just the company name written in a plain black typeface, slightly tilted to the right. The emblem was a bit more complex than that. There was a black oval with a triangular shape consisting of several white rectangles. The layout varied from time to time, but they all adhered to this recipe.

2013 – today

When Aviateca turned into Avianca, they were also given a new logo. Again, there was the company name written in plain ordinary letters, but they were now red and not tilted as before. The emblem was supplanted by a bird symbol. It was basically just the red head and two red wings, but you know immediately that it’s a bird.

Emblem and Symbol

Unlike many other airlines, they don’t usually put their main symbol on the back of the planes – to be painted onto the vertical stabilizers on the tail. They put it in front, just as it’s usually portrayed on these logos, alongside the name part. The tail, for its part, is usually given a few red ‘feathers’ – simple pointed shapes to fit the bird aesthetic.