Rai

Background

RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana S.p.A. (commercially styled as Rai and known as Radio Audizioni Italiane until 1954) is Italy's national public broadcasting company founded in 1944. In 1950, RAI became one of the 23 founding broadcasting organizations of the European Broadcasting Union.

1st Logo (January 3, 1954-October 3, 1983)

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Visuals:

• Startup: On a scrolling sky background, a black square consisting of a white stacked "TV" logotype fades in, with the name "r a i - radiotelevisione italiana" seen below. Various abstract 2D wireframe figures then scroll down and cover the background, as the logo fades in and out every five seconds.
• Closedown: Same as before, but the shapes scroll upwards instead, and the Rai logo only appears only once before it fades into the text "Fine delle Trasmissioni" in a white script font.

Later Variant: By the late 1970s when Italian television was transitioning to color, the logo was colorized with shades of blue for the background and the square.

Technique: Cel-animation.

Audio:

• Normal: The ending of the Italian version of William Tell Overture by Gioachino Rossini is heard.
• Signoff: L'Aria de Saturno by Roberto Lupi.

Availability: It was seen on startups and closedowns from the channel during its nearly 30-year usage and is currently archived on very old Italian TV recordings. The closedown variant has recently reappeared during Rai's 70th anniversary campaign.

2nd ID (1983-September 23, 2012)

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Visuals:

• 1983-1988: On a navy blue background, a 4-pointed star flashes in the upper right part of the screen. After a bit, a globe displaying most of Europe, as well as some of Africa and Asia, fades in with gray land, a shiny metallic blue ocean, and a white glow surrounding it, and then it starts to zoom in as a tricolor rectangle glides in from the bottom of the screen, clearly colored like the Italian flag, as the background slowly lightens up. As the camera pans towards Italy, the rectangles then flip up as they rotate around and stand upright, right before the camera heads into the ocean as circles pulse out from Rome's approximate location on the map. The camera then dips below the "water" to eliminate the globe, but the circles continue for a while longer, and the rectangles spin into a stacked position as green, white, and red from top to bottom. "RAI" in a customized blue font then appears via a "blinds" effect, along with the full name "RADIO TELEVISIONE ITALIANA" in Helvetica and with each word next to the rectangles, and the entire logo shines with white cloud-like particles on the inside.
• 1988-2012: It begins the same way, but when the camera heads towards the ocean, a large silver object pops up and zooms out, leaving a dark blue background as it reveals itself to be the text "RAI", now redesigned with the letters separated and the "A" missing its crossbar. The logo then moves back as a tricolor parallelogram with the Italian flag's colors appears from behind the "R" and flies up to form the "A"'s crossbar. The logo shines as "RADIO TELEVISIONE ITALIANA" fades in a different white font, arranged to the left.

Variants:

• From 1983-1988, a closedown variant has the color shifting reversed, starting with sky blue before fading to navy blue. The logo also lacks the shininess as the startup variant and is light blue, and the star reappears at this point.
• Starting in 1991, the logo was redesigned to include a crossbar on the "A", and the parallelogram's stripes are now arranged exactly like the Italian flag, with the parallelogram plastering itself on the crossbar.

Technique: CGI by Studio ARA.

Audio: A calm, yet dramatic synth fanfare based on the opening notes of Italy's national anthem, Il Canto degli Italiani.

Availability: It was used as a startup and closedown ident during the time period.

Legacy: The logo had a surprisingly long timespan, ending 29 years after the logo was replaced twice!

3rd ID (1983-1985)

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Visuals: On a black background with a yellow square grid floor, an azure flat version of the Rai logo from 1983-1988 floats above it. The camera scrolls underneath it while a blue sphere, a red square and a green tetrahedron (the original symbols of the three Rai generic channels) come in one-by-one and go up the letter "A". The camera follows the shapes until the Rai logo is framed on the screen along with the grid. The camera zooms out as the shapes fly offscreen and the grid flies out of view. The words "RADIO TELEVISIONE ITALIANA" then appear one-by-one, progressively going towards the right.

Variant: A short variant exists, only with the panning to the "A" in "RAI" fading to the 3/4th of the animation.

Technique: Same as before.

Audio: A calm, yet eerie synth and three synth notes when each word of the name appears. The short versions usually have an abridged version, and the shortest versions just have the 3-note jingle.

Availability: Used for a short time on several Rai transmissions.

4th ID (1985-1988)

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Visuals: On a blue/purple background, the same three shapes from before are seen flying towards the right side of the screen, releasing trails of their respective color. They pass over a glass version of the "RAI" wordmark of the time, which rotates and zooms down into place, settling near the center of the screen. After it does so, the name "RADIO TELEVISIONE ITALIANA" fades in word-by-word while the three shapes stop next to each of them.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A faster synth piano rendition of the previous logos' theme or the next logo's theme.

Availability: Used on several transmissions from 1985 to 1988.

5th ID (1988-1993)

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Visuals: On a smoky orange background with multiple streaks in different colors rotating, the three shapes from the previous logos spin around, as the redesigned "RAI" wordmark in glassy letters emerge from the left side of the screen. The background changes to a more blue shade as the three shapes become horizontal lines, with the sphere becoming white. As this happens, the wordmark settles in the center and the lines plaster themselves on the "A", becoming its crossbar. The logo shimmers as a light passes over it.

Variant: After 1991, the lines were made vertical to reflect Italy's flag and adds the crossbar to the "A". The background is also darker and the flag shines once the logo shines as well.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: Several descending synth drops, which sound like raindrop sounds, before a dramatic 3-note synth finish. Essentially a remix of the previous logo's theme.

Availability: Used on several transmissions from 1988 to 1993.

6th ID (June 8-July 8, 1990)

Visuals: There is the European flag as a water drop drops into the middle of the flag as it ripples to transition into the RAI logo. Ater that, the background transitions into a piece of light brown paper with illustrations of satellite broadcast equipment with the soccer ball being placed on a TV screen in the left corner.

Technique: CGI by Telesia Comunicazioni.

Audio: A waterdrop sound followed by some satellite sounds and radar noises.

Availability: Seen on broadcasts of all 1990 FIFA World Cup matches.

7th ID (1993-2000)

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Visuals: On a yellow background, various crayon-like streaks in various colors appear and move through the screen. When the background is filled by crayon marks, a jagged barrier made of crystal lines comes up from the bottom of the screen and the RAI logo from before fades in, each letter rotating towards the screen as they do.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A dramatic 7-note theme.

Availability: Used on several transmissions until 2000.

8th ID (2000-2010)

Visuals: On a blue background, a white right triangle with the diagonal face of it containing an outline of a human face slightly zooms out to the right, and then unfolds a copy to form an abstract butterfly shape. "Rai" fades in on the left of the shape after it unfolds.

Variant: A variant without the text exists, where the butterfly is centered.

Technique: Simple computer animation designed by Inarea in Italy.

Audio: A short dramatic fanfare.

Availability: Used on programs broadcasted by Rai until 2010.

9th ID (2010-)

Visuals: Just the "Rai" text from before in a blue square fading in and out.

Technique: Fading effects.

Audio: None.

Availability: Currently in use in some of Rai's programming. This is likely to be seen after the Eurovision logo on each broadcast of the yearly contest in Italy.