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Thursday, Nov 26, 2009
The science and psychobabble of air carrier identity: From Zoroastrianism to "touch lines," just what are the airlines trying to say?
Jul 29, 2005 | Not that you asked, but we've gotten to the bottom of why Air-India employs the man-horse centaur of Greek mythology as its official logo.
Air-India's earliest long-range planes were Lockheed Constellations, the first one taking off in 1948. With the new planes came a new logo, and the plan was go with a constellation theme. The centaur, representative of Sagittarius, was a logical choice because it suggested movement, strength, and somewhat resembled the farohar, a Parsi heavenly symbol featuring a winged man, like a guardian angel. The Parsis are a Zoroastrian sect of the Subcontinent -- of which Air-India's founding family, the Tatas, were members -- and their farohar is a sign of good luck. Furthermore, incarnation of the Sagittarius brings forth, in the mind of many Indians, images of the master archer Arjuna from the mythological epic Mahabharata. Whatever the exact reasoning, the emblem was adopted and has remained ever since.
I've always contended that any meditation on air travel is, at heart, a meditation on culture, and there's a great example.
Thanks to Mr. Vikram Doctor, writing from Mumbai, for his expertise on that one. He, like many of you, have been working diligently -- harder than me, that's for sure -- to solve a few of the industry's more mysterious liveries and identities.
Up next is Indonesia's national carrier, Garuda. The airline hails from the planet's most populous Muslim nation, but has named itself in honor of a Hindu deity. There's the stylized Garuda himself up on the tail fin. Is this not culturally incorrect?
"Well," explains a reader, "Garuda is essentially an eagle. Carriers use bird motifs of many different kinds. Garuda's Garuda is no less fitting than the crane is for Lufthansa."
Perhaps more fitting. After all, "Garuda is the king of the birds," so a Google search reveals. "He mocks the wind with the speed of his flight." The robust Garuda joins Ganesha and Hanuman, neither of whom make passable names for airlines, to complete Hinduism's animal-god trinity. It's also worth noting that the airline Garuda got its start on Indonesia's most famous tourist island, Bali, which is a predominantly Hindu place. (Actually it's an amalgam of Hindu, Buddhist, and local indigenous beliefs, as described in this space several months ago.)
Then again, in Southeast Asia, certain words born from Sanskrit are not always considered of Hindu orientation. Take the word for lion, "singh." It lends itself to Singapore, "the Lion City," and the well-known Singha lager of Thailand. Thus, Garuda is just Garuda: a cool, mean-ass bird, culturally relevant if you want him to be.
Several e-mailers also submitted theories as to why an Icelandic airline would choose the moniker Air Atlanta. Reykjavik's Air Atlanta is one of the world's largest so-called ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance) providers -- a lessor of widebody aircraft, mostly 747s, to carriers in need of temporary extra capacity. Air Atlanta staff did not respond to requests for clarification, but readers gave it a shot:
"Possibly Air Atlanta is merely trying to identify with the North Atlantic," voices Ken Kenwell. "Atlanta, Atlantic?"
I suppose, but why not "North Atlantic?" Icelandair is already taken, but how about "Saga International" or "Lava Airways"? Better yet, what about "Air Valkyrie," which would also lend itself to some great logo ideas, such as a spear-toting Norse woman atop a winged horse. Flight attendants and pilots could wear Viking hats, just like Flava Flav.
