A new design for Lufthansa

The most obvious change to Lufthansa's design can be seen by looking at the tailpiece. The rudder now has a blue varnish with a white crane on it. The former yellow circle — often dubbed the "fried egg" by mocking observers — is no longer. Also, the belly of the plane will now be sprayed white, instead of the former gray.

This Boeing 737-100, which Lufthansa started using in 1968, shows the design fundamentals we've grown used to over the years, from the grey spray on the belly to the black nose and the "fried egg" on the tailpiece. In a few years from now, this traditional design will have disappeared from the skies.

The first Lufthansa planes looked very different from the modern ones, obviously enough. The Junkers G 24 plane, as shown in the picture, did not feature the "fried egg." But look closely at the shuttle bus beside it and what do you see? The famous crane, there from the beginning. The heraldic bird was designed by graphic artist and architect Otto Firle.

Check out this old design: a black nose and black engines, with the company's name on the side, barely legible right under the cockpit. It would take another generation before people started thinking about long-term corporate designs at Lufthansa and indeed, elsewhere.

Once in a while, the design was subject to some minor alterations. On this Vickers V-814 Viscount, pictured in 1968, the yellow crane logo on the rudder was relatively small. The Lufthansa lettering was a lot larger though, and the traditional blue and yellow colors stylishly embraced the whole fuselage.

After Germany won the FIFA World Cup in Brazil in 2014, the plane carrying the footballers home was coated with a special Lufthansa varnish to mark the occasion. The "Fanhansa" jet even circled over the Berlin fan park before landing on home soil with the World Cup winners.

The basic design did not change for this A321, which was selected for flights when Lufthansa tested plant oil-fueled planes. It simply added "Lufthansa Biofuel Power" to its standard corporate design.

When an airline introduces a new design, it's not just the fuselage that needs a lick of paint. Every item carrying the old logo needs to be upgraded, from the seats in the cabins to the check-in desks around the world. Thousands upon thousands of items have to be replaced in the name of corporate consistency.

This is a computer-generated image of a Boeing 747-8, replete with the new Lufthansa logos. This is what we will have to get used to seeing in the skies. The carrier reckons that it will take seven years before every plane is painted afresh. So stay calm — your senses will be given time to adjust.