Ugly Bar logo prompts meeting
AN emergency meeting of the Bar Association has been called to discuss the body's new logo, which some members have described as ''appallingly ugly''.
More than 20 members have signed a petition demanding the emergency general meeting so the logo, adopted this month, can be abolished.
The Bar Council has agreed to meet on March 18 for ''the purpose of considering and, if thought fit, passing a resolution that the new logo . . . be set aside and the existing logo prior to the set date be restored or retained. Any new logo should be approved by members in the general meeting''.
The previous logo, used since the 1960s, comprised symbols of the four Inns of Court in London: Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple, Middle Temple and Gray's Inn.
The decision to adopt a new logo was made more than eight years ago. Last year two options were produced by professional designers.
The council chose the new logo, which has a rectangle on the left and a square on the right with four strokes beneath.
Bar chairman Ronny Wong Fook-hum QC said the rectangle and the square stood for the letter ''B'', representing the Bar Association. The rectangle together with the four horizontal strokes were a symbol for ''L'', law. The strokes represent the four sources of law: common, equity, statute and custom law.
''The new logo means that the Bar Association is backed by sources of law,'' Mr Wong said.
He said the colour of the logo - gold on a green background - did not have any special meaning.
One source said: ''We are a professional body, we need a logo of dignity and which shows that we are senior branches of the legal profession. We are not a commercial firm which looks for gimmicks.'' Although different logo designs were put in the Bar library for inspection, no objection was raised before the council made its decision.
The source admitted that many members did not bother to look at the designs or provide comments.
''No one was interested in it until we found out that a new logo was chosen by the Bar Council. It's everybody's fault,'' he said. ''But we prefer the old one until we find a new one which is good enough.'' Mr Wong said it was healthy that members took an interest in issues that concerned them, and welcomed an emergency meeting so that members could truly decide which logo they liked.
