Scottish Television - Identity

Identity

Scottish Television's first on-air symbol featured the Lion Rampant of Scotland (the Royal Standard). Initially a static caption, an animated ident was introduced by 1965 in which the lion would spin inside a box, though this later modified as a simple zoom in following, according to some reports, a complaint from The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the man in charge of protecting Scotland's heraldry. The station's first theme was a specially composed piece by Geraldo entitled Scotlandia, which began each day's broadcasting - the theme continued to be heard until August 1985.

After the start of colour broadcasting, the lion rampant symbol was replaced within a year by a stylised 'STV' logo. The solid STV lettering would be met by an outline of the lettering and the background would turn blue once both had met, accompanied by a trumpeted fanfare. Throughout the 1970s and up until 1985, this stylised STV was used as either a static caption, or form up from a pattered design that was supposed to represent tartan. Accompanying the look was a clock against a blue background with the white STV logo forming a pattern across the screen.

On 31 August 1985, the station revived the 'Scottish Television' branding and introduced a computer generated thistle ident designed by Martin Lambie Nairn. Occasional special idents were also produced including a modified logo to mark the station's 30th anniversary in 1987, while the main ident was largely replaced by 1988 in favour of a new set of seasonal and themed idents. The thistle logo was modified in January 1989 to create a 2D identity which would remain in use until February 2000, under various guises.

Scottish refused to adopt the 1999 ITV generic look and instead, alongside Grampian Television, launched a new on-screen logo on 28 February 2000, featuring a blue square with the words 'Scottish TV' - a new set of 15 ident sequences featuring Scottish people and places was produced as part of the revamp. The presentation package remained in use until 6 January 2003, when Scottish and Grampian adopted the celebrity idents package, albeit with their own logos attached and also featuring Scottish and Grampian presenters.

The celebrity look remained until 2006, when the Scottish and Grampian names were traded in for one unified look: STV. The first ident package featured an elongated blue 'S', with scenes of Scottish people in various locations passing around the 'S' from person to person in differing scenes, until one person places the S in the centre of the screen. An updated look was introduced in March 2009, consisting of a picture postcard scene which would flip over to the right to reveal another theme. This flipping increases in pace and as the camera pulls back before the STV logo forms against a gradiented blue background.