“Golden Flower” creator: “I’m a little sad”: Swiss Tourism cancels current logo

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“I’m a little sad, but I don’t blame the establishment,” says Hermann Strittmatter (87). In 1995 he and his advertising agency GGK at Zollikon ZH developed the “Golden Flower”, the current logo of Switzerland Tourism (ST), Switzerland’s national tourism marketer.

However, this trademark soon became obsolete. The gold-plated Edelweiss with the Swiss cross in the middle is becoming obsolete: “It’s time for Goldblume to enter the world of digital branding,” writes Switzerland Tourism in a media release. The organization wants to present a new brand identity at the next “Swiss Day Off”, which will take place in Geneva on April 29, 2024.

Zurich agency Made Identity was commissioned for this purpose. Their motto: “What we do surprises us.”

An Edelweiss logo, courtesy of Ms. Delamuraz

Strittmatter is “very excited” about the new brand identity, as he stated in an interview. A new logo always marks a turning point. The situation was the same in 1995: “The then outdated Swiss Transport Center became the modern Swiss Tourism organization which also needed a completely new look.”

The original proposal was for a Swiss cross framed by eight Edelweiss flowers. Strittmatter says the team around then ST director Marco Hartmann determined that it was “not urban enough” and “not valuable enough”. But the wife of the then Federal Councilor Jean-Pascal Delamuraz (1936–1998), head of the Department of Economic Affairs to which Swiss Tourism was affiliated, was excited about Edelweissen. “So we kept the idea but reduced the logo to a single, golden Edelweiss,” says Strittmatter, describing the creation of the logo.

He would like to see other companies continue to use the logo. Because Goldblume’s trademark protection has been around for several years. This is because numerous Swiss tourism companies have integrated the logo into their advertising and even into their own logos.

Golden flower can survive for a while

For example, Glacier Express AG. The company’s managing director Annemarie Meyer (59) reassures Blick: “We don’t have to change the logo overnight.” He doesn’t know what Switzerland Tourism’s new brand identity looks like and a surprise awaits him.

“Then we’ll decide what to do with the Glacier Express logo.” The new must be better than the old; This is their only motto.

Side note: Meyer was on the board of Swiss Tourism in 1995 when the Golden Flower was introduced. “This added emotionality and modernity to the performance,” he says. For this, Swiss tourism companies would have to unite under the golden flower logo. Will it work again? Meyer hopes for this, but also believes some companies will continue to use the existing golden flower logo if they are allowed to do so.

Source :Blick