Turkish Airlines livery and its wild goose emblem

Turkish Airlines' standard livery is built around a red tail with a stylised white bird, kept through several updates as the airline's network grew. The bird is a wild goose, designed by Turkish graphic artist Mesut Manioğlu, whose entry won a 1959 competition for a new airline emblem. Turkish Airlines adopted the design in 1961.

Part of its appeal was the goose's ability to fly long distances at high altitude. From certain angles the shape reads as the letters T, H and Y, for Türk Hava Yolları, the airline's name in Turkish. The livery in use today traces back to a 2010 redesign.

Repainting an airliner is not a small job. Work is arranged around critical flight components, and designers weigh the added weight of paint. A repaint can cost an average airliner upwards of $200,000, which has produced a separate aircraft repainting industry.