Heritage Malta has launched a new brand identity, with a new logo (left) which looks very similar to that of an American Art Museum (right).

Heritage Malta launched its new brand identity which includes its new slogan ‘Part of Us’, and a new logo – which the state agency said was inspired by Maltese stone and traditional local craft known as ‘tberfil’ – as well as a completely revamped website in a glitzy event on Saturday night.

Heritage Malta said that their new logo summarises “concisely what the agency stands for.”

“The middle space, forming the letter ‘H’, refers to the intangible heritage of the Maltese islands. The top part of the logo symbolises the historic sites on land, while the lower part represents our underwater heritage. The logo retains its form even if rotated,” the agency said.

However, the more eagle-eyed observers and those with knowledge of the arts scene were quick to point out that Heritage Malta’s new logo looked strangely familiar.

Indeed, the new logo looks very similar to the logo of the Hunter Museum of American Art – an art museum based in the US state of Tennessee which plays host to a century’s worth of architecture and the most complete collection of American art in the south-east of the United States.

Side-by-side, both Heritage Malta’s logo and the Hunter Museum of American Art logo share a number of similarities.  Most obvious is that the red and white colour scheme is almost identical, as is the design used to create the logo itself.

Another similarity is that both logos are ambigrams – meaning that they retain their form even when they are rotated.

Comparisons – although not as distinct – were also drawn with the logo of the well-known British news tabloid The Daily Mail.

While the official statement issued by Heritage Malta makes no mention of this, the re-branding exercise was entrusted to well-known marketing firm BRND WGN through a tendering process which ultimately cost Heritage Malta €121,942.50.

The tender was for the “Development of Rebranding Strategy, Brand Manual, UX/UI Interface Design, Marketing Strategy Complete with Deliverables for Heritage Malta”, and was awarded on 4 February 2020.

The brand launch also included a new slogan – ‘Part of Us’ – with Heritage Malta saying that this was chosen because it “believes that the cultural inheritance passed down to us, both tangible and intangible, is our collective responsibility as a nation. We must all do our part to safeguard it and leave it to our successors in a better state than we found it.”

A revamped website has also been launched as part of the exercise.

The rebranding was launched on Saturday evening in a glitzy ceremony which saw the participation of Heritage Malta’s top brass and Minister for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government Owen Bonnici.

Heritage Malta’s Chief Executive Officer, Noel Zammit, explained the concept behind the agency’s new brand identity. He said this is not simply a new look, but it marks the beginning of a new chapter in Heritage Malta’s story.

As part of the celebrations for the launch of Heritage Malta’s new brand identity, the agency said that other events will be held throughout June, which will be provided in the next few days. These will include a special open day at various Heritage Malta sites and museums in Valletta and an exhibition of artefacts spread across museums and sites in Malta and Gozo.