BBC's new identity: global meltdown

To millions of viewers it will feel like the end of the world. And in a way it will be. This week BBC1 will drop its globe logo after almost 40 years.

Ironically the £700,000 image makeover to replace the planet symbol, screened to accompany announcements between programmes, has been deemed necessary to create a more "multicultural" feel.

The globe was launched in 1964 and has been seen most recently in the guise of an orange hot air balloon drifting past well-known locations.

From Friday, however, it will be replaced by a series of dances designed to represent the cultural diversity and vibrancy of BBC1 and Britain.

Lorraine Heggessey, the BBC1 controller, said: "When we first appropriated the globe, the BBC was the only global broadcaster and it was a symbol of what we stood for." In place of the balloon will be a series of new "idents" – the branding sequences slotted between programmes – designed by the award-winning brand identity expert, Martin Lambie-Nairn, who was responsible for the original Channel 4 logo.

Eight different dance forms will promote the new look BBC1. The new idents all incorporate the colour red, as the channel's signature colour, to match a new red and white logo.