Still no sign of ‘Blue Sky City’ months after Calgary rebrand

It’s more than four months into the City of Calgary’s official rebranding and there’s no sign of the ‘Blue Sky City.’

In April, the city announced it was dumping ‘Be Part of the Energy’ after more than a decade for a new slogan, and then unveiled a new logo in July to complete the rebrand.

But there’s still no evidence of ‘Blue Sky City,’ instead outdated signage continues to welcome people into the city.

Some Calgarians tell CityNews they have no idea know what the latest brand is, or what the logo looks like.

“Nope. I actually don’t and I’m a Calgarian,” says one resident.

“Something like a mountain, I don’t know,” says another, trying to guess the logo. “Something like that.”

“It used to have sort of a white cowboy hat, but I don’t know if it still is or not,” another says.

The same people were surprised to see the new logo through a Google search.


Calgary blue sky city
Calgary ‘Blue Sky City’ logo. (Calgary Economic Development)

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

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.

The new name also references Calgary being the sunniest city in Canada, with 333 days of sunshine a year.

In July, Calgary Economic Development (CED) said $1.7 million was spent on the brand development and roll out. More than 129 organizations were consulted on the change.

In a statement, the city says the new signage on major roadways into the city is still in the process of being designed.

“We anticipate design and approvals will be in place for this to happen in the near future,” the statement reads.

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