The Story Behind… The Columbia Pictures Logo
In “The Story Behind…” series I take a look at movie related things, with this time the focus on a logo. It is something we see every time a movie starts, but do you know the history of them? This week I look into the logo of Columbia Pictures. It was founded in 1919 and named Cohn-Brandt-Cohn Film Sales, which got changed to Columbia Pictures in 1924. So what does Columbia mean and who is the lady in the logo?
To know the origin of the name Columbia we have to travel back all the way to 1738 when it was published in the weekly publication of the debates of the British Parliament. It was forbidden to print the debates and to camouflage this they were published as Reports of the Debates of the Senate of Lilliput. Fictional names were thought up for other countries and Columbia was the one used for America, the one responsible for this is most probably Samuel Johnson. The name finally became the female personification of America and was chosen to be the name and logo of the company. It is not completely clear however on which woman Columbia has been based. Several women have claimed to be the inspiration, but a conclusive answer was never found.
Through the years the logo has had many forms:
The original CBC Films Sales logo
1924-1928
Before the Torch lady appeared in 1928 the studio used the image of a female Roman Soldier holding a stick and a shield.
1928-1936
In this version the Torch Lady had a headdress and had rays on the torch that flickered.
1936-1976
This updated version removed the headdress and a pedestal was added.
1961-1976
Although the image remained much the same a colored widescreen version was introduced.
1976-1980
Although this version started with the torch lady, it zoomed in on the rays of the torch to end with the stylised Columbia Pictures logo.
1981-1992
This version was similar to the previous one, although less detailed, with the stylised version shortly appearing before Columbia Pictures appeared.
1992-1998
In 1992 a new matte painting was made by artist Michael J. Deas. It was Jenny Joseph who was the model for this updated version. Deas didn’t use her face however and made a composite using a computer.
1999
For their 75th Anniversary it showed a quick transition of the lady to the current version with “75th” appearing as well.
1999-now
Also available:
The Story Behind…The Paramount Pictures Logo
The Story Behind…The 20th Century Fox logo
I do love this series, really interesting to see a logo evolve over the years. Great idea matey!
Thanks Scott, there are still enough other things to focus on, so I’m planning to keep making them for a while.
Love reading about these things from the film biz. Had no idea they had used a model from 1992. Love the evolution here.
Nice to hear you are enjoying these Jaina!
I’m w/ Scott, LOVE this series, brilliant! This is one of my favorite movie logos, it’s classy looking. Looking forward to which logo you’ll feature next
Happy to hear that Ruth. I still have to decide which one it is going to be next time!
What a fascinating post! I love finding about about the history of logos and seeing how they evolve over time.
Thank you!
Love the idea behind this series! History can be such a fascinating thing, especially when it involves film history!
Cannot wait to read more!
Thanks Matt! There are so many cinema history related questions one could ask and I enjoy finding the answers, so this feature will probably keep going for a while
I agree with the others, this is a great series. It’s fascinating to see how the logo has evolved over the years while retaining its key element: the torch lady.
Thank you Claire. Since she is the personification of the name they really couldn’t leave her out
Hey! That’s the post I was wating for
The history of the logo is so interesting, especially the story of the name Columbia. The version used nowadays is so elegant and beautiful. I think it’s one of my favourite logos!
Happy to read you were waiting for it. It was interested finding out what the name meant, didn’t know that either!
Hey, I’ve found an image of the 1924-1928 Columbia Pictures logo: http://postimage.org/image/f88gxv3e3/
Thanks again Jason!
what about tristar?
This is an ongoing series, so they might be featured in a future installment.
Great series, but whatever happened to 1944-1960, years which include Columbia’s two greatest successes at the Oscar: From Here to Eternity and On the Waterfront?
Thanks for mentioning that, just rechecked it and made a typo there. The 1936 logo was used till 1976 although it got replaced by a colorised version. Have updated this in the article!
Also, you need to add this image, too: http://postimage.org/image/f88gxv3e3/
Thanks so much for that, I wasn’t able to find it!
Hey, thanx so much for creating such a good post, i’m doing a college assignment atm on company logos and film title sequences, and i found so much usful information on these logo posts of yours
thankyou for the help! and not to worry, i have referenced all the quotes i borrowed, so my tutors no it written my me haha 
Glad to be able to help, hope you get a good grade for it!
oops, typo *it wasn;t written by me haha