Batman Logo History

Starting With B                                 Batman Recent Logo

Batman represents one of the twentieth century's greatest mythic heroes. It started after the success of Superman that Bob Kane and his partner Bill Finger decided to create a hero whose goal was to purge the world of evil in dark, twisted, urban America. The Batman logo also referred to as the Batman Emblem, symbolically brings together all the fundamental attributes that make Batman remarkable. The original version of the logo was a simple black bat against the grey color of the batsuit. Variations of this design have been used since the character's first appearance until 25 years later. In 1964, Detective Comics #327 introduces the Bat-logo as a yellow ellipse behind the insignia against the grey color of the batsuit after Julius Schwartz decided that the symbol with the yellow oval would make Batman look more contemporary. Despite the periodical redesigns, this version remains the most commonly known representation of Batman throughout time. The reason for the yellow emblem is given by the hero himself in the Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller. Batman states that he wanted to have a yellow mark because it would serve as an easy target and that part of the costume was bullet resistant. By the late 1990s, Batman's suit becomes darker and the yellow ellipse disappears once again. Although the animated series Batman Beyond present a red bat against a black suit, today's Batman cartoons, movies video games and comics removed the yellow ellipse and helped return the character to his dark roots.