In my opinion, the UPS livery is a masterclass in airline livery design. There have been three versions of it since 1988, each featuring the same basic color scheme while iterating on the best elements of the previous one.

It’s always been bold. Classy. And most importantly: unique. How many airline liveries can you name that proudly feature dark (1970’s) brown as confidently as this one does? 

UPS Airlines liveries through the years

UPS Arlines was formed in 1988 as a subsidiary of the United Parcel Service. It’s the successor to UPS Air Cargo – which launched operations way back in 1929. For this overview, I’m only focusing on the liveries of UPS Airlines (1988 onward).

All UPS Airlines liveries

The launch livery: 1988-2003

Just imagine the challenge facing the designers of this original livery. The United Parcel Service was known for its dark brown delivery trucks and uniforms – a color scheme which doesn’t exactly translate well to airline livery design.

  • Brown was very much out of style in 1988.
  • Darker colors (such as 1970s disco brown) absorb heat, which can be problematic for finicky aircraft control systems.
  • Using any color other than brown would have been very much off brand.

The solution that the designers came up with is what I consider to be a “safe compromise.” 

  • It was safe because contained very simple design elements which could be easily replicated from aircraft type to aircraft type.
  • It was a compromise because they made “UPS brown” (R=35, G=2, B=0 – #230200) the secondary color rather than the primary. 
Side profile illustration of a United Parcel Service (UPS) Boeing 747-123(SF) over a blank background with and without the landing gear deployed
The livery was predominantly white with a thick brown cheatline running the length of the fuselage. In other words, it was basically their way of giving the middle finger to everyone who was saying that cheatlines were dead in the late 1980s.

The vertical stabilizer was solid brown, and extended down into the fuselage to connect with that cheatline. The existing (beige) UPS package logo was placed in the center of the vertical stabilizer.

They played it safe with the main titles as well. “United Parcel Service” was spelled out in Helvetica bold (all black – not brown).

Side profile illustration of a United Parcel Service (UPS) Douglas DC-8-73AF  (freighter) over a blank background with and without the landing gear deployed
Applied to my Douglas DC-8-73AF template, it’s safe to assume that the task of extending the cheatline over such a vast distance was a total b*tch for the painters. Anyone who has ever tried to draw a line that straight for that long (without the help of computers) knows exactly the hell I’m talking about.

Finally, the very bottom of the fuselage was left exposed aluminum. It was a very clean (and classy) design IMHO.

The second livery: 2003-2014

To me, the most fascinating thing about the 2003 livery redesign was not only how modern it looked, but how subtly retro it was at the same time.

Retro you say? Absolutely! I mean, the brown and yellow color scheme is something we haven’t seen since the disco-era 1970s. It’s really hard for me not to give the designers credit for having the balls to plow ahead with a color palette like that in 2003. Totally hip, man!

Side profile illustration of a United Parcel Service (UPS) Airbus A300-600F in the 2003 livery over a blank background with and without the landing gear deployed
The Airbus A300-600F wore this second “1970’s retro but not really retro” livery very well IMHO. It was the perfect balance of brown and white not seen since Poncharello and John (CHiPs).

The basic premise of the original 1988 livery remained intact. The vertical stabilizer was just as brown as the previous version, and it blended down into the fuselage. The all new UPS logo of the time was placed directly at the center of it – just like the previous version.

Instead of a linear brown cheatline running down the entire length of the fuselage, it was visually sliced in half (from front to back) with a brown arch. The brown and white sections were separated buy a gold stripe (R=220, G=146, B=35 – #DC9223).

Side profile illustration of a United Parcel Service (UPS) Boeing 767-34AF/ER with winglets in the 2003 livery over a blank background with and without the landing gear deployed
Illustrating this livery on my Boeing 767-300F template really made me appreciate the restraint the designers had for not going overboard with the gold accent color. How horrific would this have been with neon yellow winglets? I’m surprised DHL hasn’t tried that yet…

The “United Parcel Service” titles were replaced by “Worldwide Services” in a thinner (but still black) font similar to Helvetica. Just beneath those main titles (and offset slightly to the right) were subtitles that spelled out “Synchronizing the world of commerce.”

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The current livery: 2014-present

You know the saying: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Unless you can make it better. In that case, go for it. But don’t F it up!” That’s exactly what the United Parcel Service brand and marketing team did in 2014.

Side profile illustration of a United Parcel Service (UPS) Boeing 747-8F (freighter) in the 2014 livery over a blank background with and without the landing gear deployed
Never ever has my Boeing 747-8F template looked so dang cool. It doesn’t get any better than this! Well, at least until I get around to illustrating the National Airlines livery…

This was a very subtle update, with 3 changes that can be difficult to notice at first glance:

  1. The “Synchronizing the world of commerce” subtitles were removed from the forward fuselage.
  2. The gold color (of the stripe and the logo) was made brighter. The new color is R=249, G=184, B=9 (#F9B809).
  3. The UPS logo was replaced with the updated version. It essentially the same graphic but without the gradient highlight.
Side profile illustration of a United Parcel Service (UPS) MD-11F (freighter) in the 2014 livery with and without the landing gear deployed over a blank background
This livery looks a little different on the MD-11. The smaller vertical stabilizer forces the UPS logo to be smaller, which reduces the overall amount of the gold accent color. Bigger is better IMHO (she told me to say that).
Side profile illustration of a United Parcel Service (UPS) Boeing 757-24APF (freighter) in the 2014 livery over a blank background with and without the landing gear deployed
Speaking of how this livery looks different depending on the aircraft it’s applied to, notice how the shape of the gold stripe appears to curve down at a more aggressive angle as it wraps around the smaller-diameter fuselage of my Boeing 757-200PF template.

Kudos to UPS on doubling down on the “1970s brown” thing! Other than Etihad’s new livery, I can’t think of any other airline using any shade of brown as its primary color. The Saudi Airlines livery is close – but it’s more baby poop tan than brown IMHO.

What others am I missing?

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12 Comments

    1. You’re welcome! Yes, those two will come eventually. The 747-200F will probably be first since I’ve already completed the 747-100F.

        1. The MD-11F, 747-100F, and A300-600F are actually ready to go – I just need to write the posts (and get it all formatted). I’m hoping to get them published sometime within the next few weeks. No guarantees though, as I have the attention span of a gnat lol.

          The -200F will come after.

  1. Nice job Scott 10/10 I needed that and btw are you going to make the Evolution of FedEx livery from 1971 to 2024.

    1. Thanks Elijua – that sounds like a lot of fun actually. I’ve got a lot to say about the first Fedex livery!

      1. U can say that again and maybe just maybe u can make your first plane company evolution like Airbus from 1970-2024 or Boeing from 1916 to today as well mate and I hope u know how to make planes from 1910’s lol

        Plus when I first saw the side view of the planes I started to make them by tracing them and cutting them out

      2. So Scott how long have you been making these sideview planes it looked really cool and why do you make them little 13 year old me wanna know

  2. Oh and sorry for asking a lot I just kinda got a lot of ideas going, Honestly after hearing about your story I kinda wanted to know u better lol

    Plus I kinda got a little challenge for ya
    U think u can make the NASA B747-100 and the AN225 with them carrying the space shuttles in the NASA livery.
    Again sorry if this is a lot

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