Southwest Airlines Logo
The Southwest Airlines logo uses 3 primary colors. Its dominant color is Night in Manchester (#304CB2, closest Pantone 2367 C). Southwest Airlines operates in the Aerospace & Defense industry.
- Color family
- blue
- Industry
- Aerospace & Defense
- Brand popularity
- Top 1% of indexed brands
- Website
- southwest.com
Design analysis
Southwest Airlines uses a combination mark pairing a custom wordmark with a proprietary heart symbol. The wordmark sets "Southwest" in a rounded, geometric sans-serif with distinctive curved terminals on the "S" and "t" that echo the icon's softness. The heart icon is constructed from three diagonal stripes — blue, yellow, and red — that intersect to form the shape, a clever abstraction suggesting both affection and movement. This stripe system extends across the brand's livery, where the same three bands wrap the fuselage and tail. At small sizes the heart remains legible down to roughly 12 pixels because the stripes are thick and the negative space between them is generous; the wordmark holds up less well below 18 pixels due to the tight counters in "o" and "u". In the airline sector, where most competitors rely on globes, wings, or stylized birds, the heart is a deliberate differentiator that signals the carrier's "LUV" heritage (its NYSE ticker) and customer-first positioning without using literal aviation imagery.
Logo colors, measured
Colors extracted from the logo image itself (background removed), with share of the mark each color covers.
Click a chip to copy its hex code.
The measured palette captures only the blue family (#304CB2, #3656CC) and a neutral gray (#CCCCCC), likely from a single-color or corporate-lockup version of the mark. Southwest's full brand system adds a vivid yellow (#F9A602) and red (#E61E2B) to complete the tri-stripe heart. The deep blue anchors trust and operational reliability — standard airline semiotics — while the warm accent stripes inject approachability and energy, breaking the cold corporate convention. Gray serves as a quiet bridge for backgrounds and secondary type.
Visually similar logos
Nearest neighbors in visual embedding space — marks that share shape and structure with the Southwest Airlines logo, regardless of color or industry.
Brand web palette
Colors Southwest Airlines uses across its website — the broader brand system around the logo.
About Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It was founded on March 15, 1967, by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher and commenced its operations on June 18, 1971. The airline started with three aircraft serving three Texas cities, and since then, Southwest Airlines has grown to become one of the world's largest low-cost carriers. Southwest Airlines operates primarily in the United States, with a significant domestic presence. It serves over 100 destinations across 40 states, including popular tourist destinations and major cities. Despite its focus on domestic operations, the airline also serves a few international destinations, including Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America. The main products and services offered by Southwest Airlines are short-haul flights at affordable prices. The airline is known for its no-frills approach and its commitment to providing low-cost travel options. Southwest Airlines emphasizes customer service and offers features such as open seating, no change fees, two free checked bags per passenger, and a simple rewards program. Southwest Airlines does not have any major subsidiaries, joint ventures, or partnerships. However, it has codeshare agreements with several international airlines, allowing customers to book flights to additional destinations beyond Southwest's network. In terms of market position, Southwest Airlines is a significant player in the aviation industry. It consistently ranks among the world's largest airlines based on the number of passengers carried. While it faces competition from other low-cost carriers like JetBlue and Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines has maintained its reputation as a customer-friendly and reliable airline. Over the years, Southwest Airlines has achieved numerous milestones and implemented strategic changes to drive its growth. Notable achievements include being the first airline to introduce a profit-sharing plan for its employees and becoming one of the first a
Questions about the Southwest Airlines logo
When did Southwest introduce the heart logo?
The current heart symbol launched in September 2014 as part of a full brand refresh led by GSD&M and the airline's internal design team. It replaced the previous "Southwest" wordmark with a stylized airplane tail that had been in use since 1998.
What do the three stripe colors represent?
Southwest has not assigned official meanings to each stripe. The trio — blue, yellow, red — derives from the airline's historic color palette and is described internally as representing the heart of the brand: its people, hospitality, and low-fare mission.
What color is the Southwest Airlines logo?
The dominant color of the Southwest Airlines logo is Night in Manchester (hex #304CB2). The closest Pantone match is 2367 C.
How many colors does the Southwest Airlines logo have?
The Southwest Airlines logo uses 3 primary colors: #304CB2, #3656CC, #CCCCCC.
More blue logos see all →
More Aerospace & Defense logos see all →
The Southwest Airlines logo is a trademark of its owner, shown here for identification and design research. Color data is measured from the public mark by LogoLabs; analysis is editorial commentary. No affiliation or endorsement is implied.