The NHS blue lozenge logo began to be used at the start of the 1990s, however new branding guidelines in 1999 ensured that it became widespread, strictly uniform, and universally recognised. The colour of the background has to be blue pantone 300. The letters have to be 2.4 times as wide as high. The letters have to be in Frutiger Bold Italic white font. The cost of the rebranding and the imposition of the logo in place of existing local identities created controversy at the time. Did the new logo help to shore up a fracturing identity for the service, or was it part of the shift of the service into just another brand?
