The small Principality of Liechtenstein is currently having a voting contest to choose the country's new visual identity. Every citizen over 14 years old is allowed to choose between five proposals that were made by agencies from all over Europe. The basic guidelines of the logos are based on the national's colours -red and blue- and some of them refer to the royalty condition of the nation using dashes of gold. The logo should also take in consideration the fundamental principles and values of the little country, such as its independence, national security, self-determination, etc. Here are the contestants:
I'd have to say that this is proposal falls short in the sense of creating a consistent brand. The use of gradients and different triangular shapes look carelessly put, which makes a weird combination and not a very recognizable or strong logo.
In this proposal we can see again the use of polygonal shapes that use the 2 national colours plus the gold that refers to the Principality character. Unlike the previous logo, this one has a more consistent look relying on its simplicity. Considering Liechtenstein is known for its independence and overall neutrality amidst Europe, the sober look of this logo might live up to the intended spirit.
The third proposal focuses more on the flag's colours, applied onto polygons (we might see a pattern here) with a light use of gradients to give a sense of volume. It certainly has a youthful look, specially considering the rounded type choice. This is a consistent logo, but I personally think it might fall into a more generic look. Besides, that spacing between Liechten and Stein looks kinda weird.
The next logo proposal refers directly to the royalty character of the country. It has a sober look that mixes the national colours with a gold crown and, although a bit more literal, has a lot more character and recognizability potential than the previous proposals. The letter L is beautifully constructed, it has that Fraktur look to it that evokes to the germanic heritage of the country. The font chosen for this logo matches perfectly the literal look, given its clean strong character. It's definitely a unique logo.
And last but not least, the fifth proposal goes in a different way than the previous ones. This logo also uses the red-blue-gold combination as well as the use of the crown. For a change they've gone with the use of coloured dots to create a diamond shape with an also dot-constructed crown. It's paired up with a rounded typography, which makes this logo look a bit childish- I'm not quite sure if this logo would work as a nation's identity though.
So what do you think? Which of these logos suites Liechenstein's identity the most ? I'd have to go for the 4th proposal, it certainly has a distinct look and lots of recognizability.