Angus’ A-Z of logos: The Queen

Pentagram partner and creative director Angus Hyland chats about the branding changes that occurred following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. With the monarchy a crucial part of the UK’s identity, what impact could the new design have on how the nation is perceived by the world?

In 2025, single-platform online entities such as X or Airbnb can easily roll out a new identity, but for brands that exist across many different platforms, applications and locations it can be far more involved, requiring multiple updates and leaving a trail of legacy applications in its wake.

One update that had to be pushed out at great speed happened when, after 70 years, the second Elizabethan era ended. The beginning of the third Carolean era immediately sparked the process of rebranding the monarchy, with everything from banknotes and coins to royal warrants and uniforms that all needed to change from Queen Elizabeth to King Charles.

Like many heads of state, British monarchs have their own monograms, known as cyphers (and most visible on our red postboxes). These cyphers feature the sovereign’s initials and title, and in the UK are designed by the College of Arms, an ancient institution responsible for maintaining the official registers of coats of arms and pedigrees since 1483.

The familiar ‘EIIR’ cypher represents ‘Elizabeth II Regina’ (with ‘R’ for ‘Rex’ or ‘Regina,’ Latin for King or Queen) and is very classical in design. The new cypher for King Charles is more decorative, and it had to be in place for all the ceremonial uniforms, flags and other bits of assorted gold paraphernalia that appeared in the coronation.

From a brand perspective, the transition was pretty seamless, and it will be interesting to see how much ‘Brand Charles’ will differ from ‘Brand Lillibet’. We’re living in very different times and it's an ongoing struggle for the Royal Family to tread the line between pomp and circumstance and staying relevant.

But there’s a bigger issue at stake here, as like it or not, the Royal Family is as much part of Brand UK as our red double-decker buses and black taxis. But, as well as the billions of pounds worth of tourist income generated for the UK economy, they also contribute something else that’s very valuable – a unique blend of ‘soft diplomacy’, a skill in which the late Queen had reached the level of Jedi Master.

As we enter a more turbulent political era, might the ever-diplomatic Royal Family turn out to be our secret weapon? By keeping things sweet with our not-so-friendly neighbours with a few well-timed and very glittering state banquets, maybe Charles and co can help keep things on track for ‘Brand UK’?

Next month… a logo that’s old enough to know better