Barclays agrees to forego legendary eagle logo
by Richard Stovin-Bradford
Two weeks ago, we were poking fun at African Bank’s new logo. The microlender appeared to have adopted the corporate colours of emerging-market bank Standard Chartered.
At the time, Bank Notes had no idea what impact an apparently harmless bank logo could have.
Everything became clear this week when The Times reported from London that Barclays was prepared to drop the eagle that has graced its corporate identity for the past 317 years as part of its campaign to win over the shareholders of takeover target ABN Amro.
The Dutch bank fears that the noble bird might evoke memories of the Nazis who occupied Holland in World War 2. It might well do, but this is 2007.
The generation that survived the war will not forget the atrocities inflicted during the Nazi occupation. No one should. But it is perverse to stir up anti-German feeling forever and, for today’s progressive generation, the eagle can have little or no resonance.
Barclays’ gesture is a clear case of political correctness gone bonkers.
The bank has already bent over backwards in its desire to accommodate the over-sensitive executives of ABN Amro. It has offered shareholders a handsome € 65-billion for their bank and agreed to relocate its headquarters to Amsterdam. What next? Will chief executive John Varley promise to wear clogs at board meetings?
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Read more:
Sunnday Times (South Africa)