Calgary unveils new ‘Blue Sky City’ logo

Months after the City of Calgary dumped ‘Be Part of the Energy’ for ‘Blue Sky City’ — a new logo with a sunny disposition has been unveiled to accompany the new slogan.

Calgary Economic Development (CED) says the new visuals were inspired by beadwork, which captures the city’s story as a place where peoples, lands, cultures, and ideas come together.

“The beadwork symbolizes the story of each individual Calgarian, and when these stories and individuals come together, the sum of their parts is greater than the whole,” CED said.

The city will continue to use blue, red, and yellow in its branding.

“Our city has been through many challenges over the years, but we are resilient and community focused. When we come together, there is no limit to what we can overcome and achieve,” said Mayor Jyoti Gondek. “Stampede is about our city coming together to celebrate that community spirit. I can’t think of a better time to share this milestone with Calgarians.”

Calgary’s new logo will be unveiled at the first official Stampede event of the year — the First Flip.

CED adds civic and community partners will begin to switch to the new branding in the coming months.

It was first announced in April the city would be transitioning to a new brand and identity after more than a decade.

‘Blue Sky City’ also references Calgary being the sunniest city in Canada, with 333 days of sunshine a year.

An agency who completed research on the subject on behalf of CED previously said the old slogan — ‘Calgary: Be Part of the Energy’ — didn’t represent all Canadians and contributed to a “one dimensional view” that non-Albertans have towards the city.

More than 129 organizations across 26 sectors were engaged throughout every phrase of the brand work through interviews, workshops, cross-country focus groups and surveys. Calgarians of different ages, genders, ethnicities, sexual orientations and geographic location were engaged.

The city has spent $1.7 million on brand development and rollout, CED says.

CED and Tourism Calgary are now developing national and international campagns for the new brands to attract visitors, capital, and talent.

There were plenty of opinions to go around after the announcement of the new slogan.

One of them, from Premier Danielle Smith, was one of dislike.

“I personally like ‘Be Part of the Energy,'” she said at the time. “I thought it was really clever, because not only was it a reference to energy sector, but it also conveys the vibrancy of the City of Calgary.”