After the recent flurry of interest in the Royal Signals Association logo, I thought that it was worth clarifying the rationale for the logo and the positive impact that it is already having.
Firstly, with an active membership of over 24,000 RSA members, there is no doubt that there will be differences of opinion over the logo. That is expected and when we started to look at options, we were under no illusion that we would not please everyone. Indeed, it is healthy in any organisation to have constructive criticism, and I welcome that, but when that criticism starts to become actively hostile that is less welcome. It is for that reason that the ‘chat’ on the RSA Facebook page unfortunately had to be taken down earlier this week. However, I would reiterate that the overwhelming view when the logo was launched last year was one of support.
Next, I found it slightly odd that the RSA did not have a logo when other parts of the Charity and the Corps did! The Corps continued to develop a coordinated approach to branding, and I wanted to make sure that the RSA had a seat at the table and remained aligned to that development. The previous RSA Chairman agreed, and this was also fully supported by the current Chairman. Those of you who attended the RSA AGM would have seen the presentation from the Corps Sergeant Major on the development of Corps merchandising. There is a lot of interest in this merchandise, which was only reinforced by the AGM, and I firmly believe that the RSA will benefit from the fantastic quality that bulk ordering will allow us to achieve. But we can only do that if we have a coordinated brand.
With regard some comments about the historical relevance of the ‘blue and white’ colouring of the logo, this is of course taken from the Tactical Recognition Flash which, as you will all be aware, was worn by our Despatch Riders in the earliest days of our Corps. This is a heritage that we are all hugely proud of and I am therefore slightly surprised that some in the RSA seem to be questioning its relevance. This is not to say that the ‘Jimmy’ and the tri-colours on our stable belt are redundant; far from it! At Branch level, if you would prefer to use them then that is entirely your prerogative, but Nationally, this HQ will continue to use the RSA logo to gain the benefits already alluded to.
Finally, whilst not a key driver, the development of Corps logos was conducted with one eye on the costs associated with reproduction and, indeed, ‘usability’ across various media (social media, printed media, flags, prints, clothing, etc). One of the key drawbacks to the ‘old’ charity logo was that it was unreadable on anything other than a white sheet of paper and, with various colours, the cost of reproduction increased significantly.
So, the rebranding of the Corps has broadly been warmly received by the vast majority. It will certainly allow the Corps to bring real benefits to all Signallers through, for example, the development of merchandising and I am sure that the RSA will want to be a part of that. Further, ensuring that the RSA does remain a part of this but still with its own identity, is why the RSA logo was designed and introduced.
I do not expect everyone to like it but I do hope that you will all at least see the benefit that could be achieved by having it and I would hope that you would positively promote this within your Branches.
Many thanks for your support.
Certa Cito
If you would like the PDF version then please click this link.
