Colston dolphin removed from University of Bristol logo

A prestigious university has unveiled its new logo which sees the removal of Edward Colston's dolphin emblem.

Colston was a prominent 17th century investor in the slave trade whose statue was torn down during a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020.

His dolphin crest has been replaced by a book to align with the University of Bristol's values of education.

The institution will now begin a phased update of the logo to limit wastage and manage costs effectively.

The move comes after the city began to examine its links with the transatlantic slave trade and renamed a number of the city's landmarks.

Despite the University receiving no funding from Colston - who died nearly 200 years before the University was founded - his personal emblem formed part of the institution's crest and modern logo.

The animal had previously featured on the logo, because as legend has it, one of Colston's ships was saved by a dolphin.

This has now been replaced by a book featuring turning pages and a bookmark to reflect "the institution's core missions of education and learning".

The decision to change the logo was made in November last year when the university announced its £10m Reparative Futures programme.

The programme aims to address racial injustice by collaborating on education and research initiatives to tackle educational, health and economic inequalities, building on the work started by the university's anti-racism working group. 

According to the university, the buildings named after the institution's founders - including the Wills and Fry families - will be retained, but their historic links to the slave trade will be "presented in a proper context".

As a result, the sun symbol of the Wills family and the horse emblem of the Fry's will remain part of the University's logo, reflecting their decision to acknowledge the institution's history and their relationship with these figures.

The castle and ship symbols will also remain on the logo, as they represent the medieval seal of the city of Bristol which dates back to the 13th and 14th century.  

The university will now begin a phased update, starting with the logo used on digital platforms along with some prominent signage on campus.

Other changes will be made as and when materials and signage need replacing, meaning there is likely to be a mixed use of logos across the university for some time.

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