# Are there any restrictions on airliner liveries? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 16, 2017, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055 "2017-10-16T14:58:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055/1 "2017-10-16T14:58:44Z")
I’ve been looking through photographs of the various paintschemes passenger airliners have, some of them are quite striking. I was wondering if there are any actual restrictions on liveries for commercial or private airliners? Or can people just paint them in any way they like? Thanks in advance 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055/2 "2017-10-16T15:11:22Z")
There are probably laws governing trademark infringement and “impersonation of governmental whatevers,” but otherwise I think it’s wide open. Look what Hef did with the Playboy jet, or what smaller airlines do as promotions. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055/3 "2017-10-16T15:24:23Z")
[Kulula Air.](https://www.southafrica.to/transport/Airlines/Kulula-flights/Photos/Kulula-flying-101.jpg) [This way up](http://gr8traveltips.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/kulula-airlines.jpg) [Whoah!](https://www.southafrica.to/transport/Airlines/Kulula-flights/Photos/20091204/Kulula-LARGE.JPG) [Didn’t see this coming.](https://www.southafrica.to/transport/Airlines/Kulula-flights/Photos/20081228/Kulula-LARGE.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055/4 "2017-10-16T15:37:09Z")
Yep. I have a feeling this is going to morph into a set of links of weirdly painted airliners. I’ll refrain for right now. But I suspect the bottom line is that you can paint anything on a plane that you can put on a billboard. There may be some safety exceptions, for instance if you painted the airplane in some way which interfered with visibility. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055/5 "2017-10-16T15:54:59Z")
Copyright and trademark legislation might well apply too. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055/6 "2017-10-16T16:29:58Z")
There are restrictions on what types of paints can be used on different materials. For example, some composites may only be painted with light colors so that they won’t overheat in hot weather and bright sunlight conditions (i.e. sitting on the runway in a desert in the middle of summer). There are also restrictions about the plane’s markings (registration number, etc). They have to be legible and can’t have ornamentation, for example. In order to be legible, they need to contrast with the plane’s background paint scheme. The markings also have to be permanent. You can’t use temporary stick-on letters and numbers for these markings. Any other text you put on the aircraft can’t interfere with the required markings. In other words, your fancy paint scheme can’t make it difficult to read the plane’s registration number. Poking around on google, it looks like 14 CFR part 45 contains the FAA regulations regarding liveries. You can read through all of that if you want. I glanced through some of it and did not see anything regarding graphic content, like what images or designs are acceptable and what aren’t. There are a bunch of exemptions for exhibition and antique aircraft. With all of that in mind, if you paint your aircraft with images of graphic sexual acts, white supremacist quotes, gory images, religious insults, or some other scheme that many people would find highly offensive, I strongly suspect that someone is going to complain. (disclaimer - I’m an engineer, not a pilot, and while I did some work on avionics systems a few decades ago, I have no other connection to aviation industries of any sort) ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055/7 "2017-10-16T17:04:32Z")
I would assume a livery that is designed to look like a military plane would be strongly discouraged. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055/8 "2017-10-16T17:14:18Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > Yep. I have a feeling this is going to morph into a set of links of weirdly painted airliners. I’ll refrain for right now. But I suspect the bottom line is that you can paint anything on a plane that you can put on a billboard. There may be some safety exceptions, for instance if you painted the airplane in some way which interfered with visibility. Yeah, probably if you painted them sky blue with fluffy white clouds there’d be some problems. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055/9 "2017-10-16T17:51:20Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Didn’t see this coming.](https://www.southafrica.to/transport/Airlines/Kulula-flights/Photos/20081228/Kulula-LARGE.JPG) Especially [Santa](http://www.snopes.com/photos/airplane/graphics/santa.jpg). :eek: ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055/10 "2017-10-17T00:54:19Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > There are restrictions on what types of paints can be used on different materials. For example, some composites may only be painted with light colors so that they won’t overheat in hot weather and bright sunlight conditions (i.e. sitting on the runway in a desert in the middle of summer). > … American Airlines had used an all-polished aluminum fuselage and wings with a narrow paint stripe along the windows and the company logo on the tail since the 1960s. All that shiny exposed metal was unique in the industry. Starting a couple years ago they changed over to a new livery that, like everybody else’s, is pretty much light gray paint everywhere with other-color paint for accents and a tail logo. The main reason for the change was that they were beginning to receive airplanes with large amounts of composite surfaces that couldn’t be polished to a high finish and couldn’t be painted in anything that looked even remotely like polished metal. So now they’ve repainted or parked most of the old jets and all the rest, including all the last few years’ deliveries, are fully painted in composite-compatible colors. Even if there’s very little composite in that particular model. > [@griffin1977](#): > > I would assume a livery that is designed to look like a military plane would be strongly discouraged. Actually the opposite is also an issue. Some militaries have started using bizjets, commuter turboprops, or RJs as platforms. The typical thing is to fill them with ELINT or ocean surveillance gear and send them out on patrol. Sometimes operated by private contractors. Some of these airplanes are painted in a generic airline-like motif. IATA has lodged some pretty hot protests to the UN and to the various governments about this. In a tense peace \*a la \*SK/NK just now or in an actual hot war the last thing IATA wants is for the belligerents to have learned that “If it looks like an airliner and it’s near our airspace it’s probably a military spy plane.” Here’s a pic of one such ELINT spy plane used by the US Army :smack: : [de Havilland Canada Dash 7 - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Canada_Dash_7#/media/File:Arl-dash7-N158CL-010515-01.jpg) > [@Bill\_Door](#): > > Yeah, probably if you painted them sky blue with fluffy white clouds there’d be some problems. Probably not. At the relevant ranges airplanes are dots or splotches that stand out because they’re moving against the background. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055/11 "2017-10-17T01:14:22Z")
I don’t have much to add except to say I like [Ed Force One](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Maiden#/media/File:Boeing747-IronMaiden01.jpg)’s livery the best. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055/12 "2017-10-17T02:00:03Z")
Many airlines have or had airplanes painted in special commemorative or marketing partner livery. Here’s a striking example from the past: [Boeing 727-231/Adv - Trans World Airlines - TWA | Aviation Photo #0311622 | Airliners.net](http://www.airliners.net/photo/Trans-World-Airlines-TWA/Boeing-727-231-Adv/311622). Braniff was famous for their “easter egg” paint jobs in the 1970s & early 80s. This [Boeing 747-130 - Braniff International Airways | Aviation Photo #2359754 | Airliners.net](http://www.airliners.net/photo/Braniff-International-Airways/Boeing-747-130/2359754) was commonly called “The Great Pumpkin” throughout the industry. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055/13 "2017-10-17T02:32:47Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > There are restrictions on what types of paints can be used on different materials. For example, some composites may only be painted with light colors so that they won’t overheat in hot weather and bright sunlight conditions (i.e. sitting on the runway in a desert in the middle of summer). This is true with gliders too. The older, all-metal or metal-and-fabric ones, were often painted with wild bright colors: [![](https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/full_size_056/1084792-large.jpg) ](https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/full_size_056/1084792-large.jpg) [![](https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/full_size_0204/1306812-large.jpg) ](https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/full_size_0204/1306812-large.jpg) [![](https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/full_size_0342/1513363-large.jpg) ](https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/full_size_0342/1513363-large.jpg) [![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jJ-HW2F3cBc/Vf9P4mwQStI/AAAAAAAAD_A/u2W2Ow2-q5g/s1600/Sep19-23.jpg) ](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jJ-HW2F3cBc/Vf9P4mwQStI/AAAAAAAAD_A/u2W2Ow2-q5g/s1600/Sep19-23.jpg) Some were downright almost psychedelic. (Sorry, couldn’t find any good pics of one like that.) Modern fiberglass and composite gliders are generally all-white with maybe a little bit of colored trim, e.g.: [![](https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/full_size_0316/1475079-large.jpg) ](https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/full_size_0316/1475079-large.jpg) [![](https://www.alexander-schleicher.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/F-GAL-270-001.jpg) ](https://www.alexander-schleicher.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/F-GAL-270-001.jpg) > **[Grob G103 Twin Astir photo by Roberto Bianchi](https://www.airplane-pictures.net/photo/139870/i-iavs-private-grob-g103-twin-astir/)** > > Private | Grob | G103 Twin Astir | I-IAVS | Italy, Verona - Boscomantico (QBS - LIPN) | Photo taken by Roberto Bianchi Boring! # – J. J. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055/14 "2017-10-17T02:47:34Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Many airlines have or had airplanes painted in special commemorative or marketing partner livery. Here’s a striking example from the past: [Boeing 727-231/Adv - Trans World Airlines - TWA | Aviation Photo #0311622 | Airliners.net](http://www.airliners.net/photo/Trans-World-Airlines-TWA/Boeing-727-231-Adv/311622). Don’t forget, there was the 2013 roll-out of Air New Zealand’s flying billboard for the not-yet-released Hobbit II movie, offering the first public view of Jackson’s Smaug the Dragon! [Smaug Jet](http://www.theouthousers.com/images/jck/smaugplane2_jpg_large.jpg) [This article](https://thedesignair.net/2013/12/02/a-flying-dragon-can-only-be-one-airline/) tells some of the backstory, and includes several close-up detail photos. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055/15 "2017-10-17T09:18:39Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > American Airlines had used an all-polished aluminum fuselage and wings with a narrow paint stripe along the windows and the company logo on the tail since the 1960s. All that shiny exposed metal was unique in the industry. > > Starting a couple years ago they changed over to a new livery that, like everybody else’s, is pretty much light gray paint everywhere with other-color paint for accents and a tail logo. > > The main reason for the change was that they were beginning to receive airplanes with large amounts of composite surfaces that couldn’t be polished to a high finish and couldn’t be painted in anything that looked even remotely like polished metal. Something similar happened in European auto racing. In 1934, the Mercedes-Benz W25 was weighed the night before a race and was 1kg too heavy. Mechanics spend the night sanding off the white paint down to bare metal. A couple decades of success followed for MB and their cars became famous as the “Silver Arrows”. Mercedes left racing after a bad accident at LeMans in 1955. When they came back in the '80s carbon fiber had replaced metal and they had to paint their cars silver. They still do. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055/16 "2017-10-17T10:03:01Z")
I’m surprised in order to save money airliners aren’t pulling a USAAF circa 1943, have no external paint in order to save weight and increase speed on their aircraft. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055/17 "2017-10-17T12:00:02Z")
American claimed that leaving the paint off their airplanes saved a couple to a few hundred pounds depending on the airplane size. Which translated into X hundred dollars of fuel savings per year. They didn’t talk quite as much about how they spent more money than that keeping them polished and dealing with the corrosion issues caused by exposing the metal. The paint does more than provide color; it provides corrosion protection. There are efforts afoot now to develop coatings that are inherently slippery on a micro scale and will provide less drag than smooth metal. There are also ideas about adhesive tape with directional “riblets” that mimic the organized surface roughness of shark skin and would be applied to various surfaces to reduce drag. If those developments pan out, a properly coated airplane would save fuel over a bare metal/composite one. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055/18 "2017-10-17T12:36:47Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > I’m surprised in order to save money airliners aren’t pulling a USAAF circa 1943, have no external paint in order to save weight and increase speed on their aircraft. That also got planes to the theater of operations a few days sooner, and corrosion didn’t really matter for planes whose life expectancy there was measured in weeks. An airliner flies for 20 or 30 years and the calculations are a little different. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055/19 "2017-10-17T12:55:25Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > I’m surprised in order to save money airliners aren’t pulling a USAAF circa 1943, have no external paint in order to save weight and increase speed on their aircraft. That’s exactly why American Airlines livery for many years mostly had no external paint, as mentioned upthread. The CEO was famously tight-fisted. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055/20 "2017-10-18T05:50:23Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > **There are efforts afoot now to develop coatings that are inherently slippery on a micro scale and will provide less drag than smooth metal.** There are also ideas about adhesive tape with directional “riblets” that mimic the organized surface roughness of shark skin and would be applied to various surfaces to reduce drag. Modern glass sailplanes are coated with a material commonly called “gel-coat”. I know nothing about the specific characteristics of this, except that it’s definitely slick. Twice a year, we wash, wax, and buff our gliders, and they’re definitely slippery when we’re done with that. We have to be careful setting our parachutes on the wings while we do other preparations (like installing batteries, ballast weights, etc.), because they’ll slide right off. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-restrictions-on-airliner-liveries/799055.md?page=2)