How London Transport’s roundel was nearly a rabbit

January 11, 2024 8:12 PM

How London Transport’s roundel was nearly a rabbit. London’s transport is world-famous for its roundel, but just under a century ago, it nearly became a rabbit – Wilfred the Rabbit.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (9 comments total)

The Underground could have been called the Warren.
posted by clew at 9:30 PM on January 11 [4 favorites]

Or they could've leaned into the Wonderland thing.
posted by wanderingmind at 9:54 PM on January 11

I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date!
posted by zamboni at 10:13 PM on January 11

In the event you don't know what they mean, here's the roundel
posted by chavenet at 12:33 AM on January 12 [3 favorites]

The roundel seems more effective as a brand identity, if only because it communicates information about the transport network in a way that a rabbit icon cannot, even if cute.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:47 AM on January 12

They briefly replaced the rabbit with a turtle. This seems like the result of a joke that someone higher up took seriously.
posted by Ishbadiddle at 6:47 AM on January 12 [2 favorites]

Seems like you’d want a burrowing animal as the mascot for an underground system. Perhaps an aardvark.
posted by adamrice at 7:07 AM on January 12

It is hard to believe this is real!

The following year, the rabbit was gone, to be replaced with a turtle, but as they unsurprisingly triggered jokes about the speed of the service, didn’t seem to last long either and was replaced by a blue bird.

That rabbit hood ornament is awesome.

(Also in that image, an roundel with the word General on it. I think I've only ever seen that logo used for the Underground.)
posted by Nelson at 7:45 AM on January 12

European rabbits dig burrows. (Cottontails use found burrows, and hares mostly don't burrow, they nest in long grass.)
posted by clew at 10:34 AM on January 12