The contest for the next Belgian Icon to feature on Brussels Airlines’ aircraft has reached the final stage. The top five designs, including Lucky Luke, have been presented to a jury that selected the final winner, to be announced in early November.
Down to the top five
Brussels Airlines
aircraft are known for sporting some of the most intriguing liveries in Europe. Among the designs is the Belgian Icon series, which pays tribute to Belgian culture. In August 2024, the airline launched a contest in which
the Belgian public could submit designs that represent the best of Belgium
. From October, people were able to vote for the next Belgian Icon, which will join the airline’s fleet soon.
The carrier received over 50,000 votes for the next Belgian Icon. The five designs with the most votes are as follows (in the order shown above):
- Lucky Luke – by Thibaud Van Elsué
- The Atomium – by Thomas Faes
- Leader (Cycling) – by Noah Stijnen
- Flanders Fields (Poppies) – by Gertjan De Smet and Fries Vansevenant
- Shrimp Fishers – by Allan Depaepe
Everyone with Belgian nationality or living in Belgium had been invited to submit a design, and more than 900 designs were received. Speaking about the contest, Brussels Airlines Head of Marketing, Michel Moriaux, said,
“We are pleased to see so many people cast their vote. It’s clear that the Belgian Icon contest was ‘the talk of the town’ in Belgium. As the Belgian home carrier, we want to proudly present our country to the world, and our Belgian Icons play an important part in that strategy. The design contest challenged people in Belgium to reflect on what makes us proud and who we are as a nation. We’re glad to have sparked that discussion.”
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The voting took place between October 4 and 11, during which everyone could pick their favorite design. When launching the campaign, the airline said this time, the Belgian Icon would be more Belgian than ever. Furthermore, like with all other Belgian Icons, the design should represent Belgium in an original and artistic way.
Waiting for the jury’s verdict
The airline gathered a jury to choose the winning design from the five finalists, and the winner will be revealed on November 5, 2024. The members of the jury are as follows:
- Sandra Kim: Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest for Belgium in 1986.
- Alex Callier: Member of Hooverphonic, the band that made Brussels Airlines’ safety video.
- Philippe Geluck: Creator of the ‘Le Chat’ cartoons.
- Michèle George: 2x Gold Medalist at the Paris 2024 Paralympic games.
- Sandrine Corman: Former Miss Belgium and TV Host
- Gabrielle Szwarcenberg: The designer of the airline’s uniforms
- Elisia Poelman and Griet Aesaert: Creators of the airline’s amenity kits.
Michel Moriaux and the airline’s CEO, Dorothea von Boxberg, are also part of the jury. According to Moriaux, each jury member could vote individually for the design they fancied. To give each design a fair chance of winning, the jury was not informed about the number of votes the designs received during the contest. “It was not an easy decision as all designs in the final five are very impressive and could be great Belgian Icons,” she added.
Showcasing Belgium to the world
The Belgian Icons aim to introduce the best of Belgium to the world. The first Belgian Icon, Reckham, entered the airline’s fleet in 2015. It pays tribute to Tintin, the famous Belgian comic created by cartoonist Georges Remi. It became one of the most popular European comics in the 20th century.
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Earlier this year,
Brussels Airlines unveiled Amare
, the most recent Belgian Icon, in cooperation with Tomorrowland. The livery is featured on the Airbus A320neo
, registration OO-SBB. The design celebrates
the airline’s more than ten-year-long partnership with the music festival Tomorrowland
. It features the mystical bird known as Amare.
Photo: Brussels Airlines
The third Belgian Icon in the airline’s fleet is Trident, the official aircraft of the Belgian Red Devils, the male national football team, and the Red Flames, the female football team. Previous designs include Magritte (2016-2021), Aerosmurf (2018–2023), and Bruegel (2019-2023).