RNLI waves a clearer flag

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is launching a new identity to clarify its role as a volunteer service run entirely on charitable donations. MPL has revamped the RNLI’s identity and created guidelines for its use.

The RNLI – which costs up to 60m a year to run – has suffered from public misunderstanding of its position. Many people wrongly assume the organisation is funded by the Government and some think the RN stands for Royal Navy.

MPL senior account director David Riddle says: “Before the redesign, the RNLI logotype looked institutionalised and old- fashioned. This reinforced the misconception that this was a government department rather than a modern, efficient, and sophisticated self-funding operation.”

Changes to the existing identity centred on revitalising and rationalising so that a single logotype can be used across the board. The crown and anchor have been redrawn, the flag flutters more and the singular lifeboat in the title has become a plural.

An RNLI spokesman suggests the redesign “will lead to significant economies in management time and therefore cost”.