Yle

Background
The Finnish Broadcasting Company (Finnish: Yleisradio Oy/Swedish: Rundradion Ab, officially abbreviated to Yle) is the name of the state-owned Finnish radio and television agency, which was founded in Helsinki on May 29, 1926. Originally named as "O.Y. Suomen Yleisradio – A.B. Finlands Rundradio", the company started as a radio broadcaster, but during 1957, Yleisradio tested broadcasting on television. Suomen Televisio was launched with regular broadcasting, beginning next year on January 1, 1958. The first television newscast from Yleisradio aired on September 1, 1959.

Following the acquisition of Tesvisio and Tamvisio in 1964, Yleisradio renamed its Suomen Televisio channel to TV-ohjelma 1 and launched its new second channel, TV-ohjelma 2. Both of these channels were later renamed simply to TV1 and TV2 respectively in 1971, and again to Yle TV1 and Yle TV2 in 2000. Both channels had separate programming blocks over the years (MTV and FST), and additional channels such as Yle Teema & Fem and TV Finland were created alongside the two channels.

For three decades, Yleisradio held a monopoly in Finnish broadcasting until the Finnish TV channel reforming happened in 1993, with MTV3 becoming a rival commercial television station. In 1994, the company was renamed to Yleisradio Oy or simply Yle, while in 2012, the company's branding was revamped.

Prior to January 1992, Yle didn't use their company logo in any of their television channels.

1st Logo (Renkaat) (January 1, 1992-2000)
Logo: On a white background, several layers of ripples emerge from the bottom left corner of the screen, followed by  ripples on the bottom right, magenta on the top left, and  on the top right before all of them are obscured by a burst of yellow particles, dispersing around an invisible sphere. This is followed by a subsequent burst of, purple ,, and particles as the camera rotates to an angle below the bursts (which also speeds up the animation). Five solid rings in yellow,, , and  then emerge from the sphere one by one, in that order. After the rings emerge and the particles disappear for a second, "Y L E" fades in below, forming the final product.

Trivia: Advertising graphic artist Herbie Kastemaa designed the new company logo nicknamed "Renkaat" ("Rings" in English) in 1990. Kastemaa used the company's previous logo for the basics of creating the new one (most notably the wavelength seen in the previous logo). All five rings represent the company's news, sport, music, drama and entertainment operations.

Variants: Yle TV1 had a couple of different variants of this ident seen as startup and closedown idents. It should be noted that these variants were used as main idents for the channel during that time. For more information about variants, see the 6th Yle TV1 logo.

Technique: 3D animation.

Music/Sounds: A dissonant, yet gentle-sounding synth and string ambient theme.

Availability: Extinct on TV.
 * While this was one of the four variants that could be spotted as startup and closedown idents on Yle TV1, the main logo described here could be seen as a closedown ident in a few occasions.
 * In 1998, when Yle TV1 started using their 9th logo as a closedown ident, this logo could still be spotted being used afterwards. However, around 2000, this logo was then taken out and the 9th logo on Yle TV1 was used from that point as both their startup and closedown idents alone.
 * On Yle TV2, this logo was used as both the startup and closedown ident between January 1, 1992 and August 10, 1997.

Legacy: This logo is considered nostalgic to those who grew up in Finland and is a favorite to many, although the dissonant music doesn't really mix well with the calm animation.

2nd Logo (January 1, 2001-January 23, 2013)
2001-2010 (Original)=

Logo: Same as the original version, but the logo fades in a little bit slower and is stable for a short amount of time before the light reflects on it. The logo also has a cleaner texture around it, while becoming darker towards the end of the animation.

Variants:
 * Usually, a small year mark appears below the logo, when the lighting has reflected on it.
 * A sepia-tone version with a film effect was spotted in HBT-vanhemmat.

Technique: Superimposed live-action effects.

Music/Sounds: Same as the original version, except the Deep Note-like sound lasts a little longer and the music has a slight reverb.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * Often, the logo's silent or the closing theme of the show plays over it.
 * The DocPoint festival version has a woman announcer that said "DocPoint-festivaaleilla mukana Yleisradion TV1 uusi kino ja TV2 dokumenttiprojekti." ("Yleisradio TV1's new kino and TV2's document projects are in the DocPoint festivals").

Availability: Uncommon.
 * This variant was featured in the end of programs aired from late 2010 to 2013, such as the Tosi tarina: Tervanpolttaja documentary. The last known original program to feature this enhanced variant was the third season of Pirunpelto, which aired between December 2012 and January 2013.

Videos=

3rd Logo (March 6, 2012-)
Logo: On a black background, we see three bright letters appearing one by one, forming the word "yle" on a block with soft edges popping in behind it. As the block pops in, the black background gets brighter from the center point of the screen, becoming white. As the logo moves a little bit closer, we see a tiny sparkle on top of the "l".

Variant: A letterboxed version of the logo exists on home video releases.

Technique: 2D animation.

Music/Sounds: A four-note synth piano chime followed by a brief echoing that quickly fades out.

Availability: Current.
 * The opening logo could be spotted in almost every regular program or television show aired on Yle channels. However since 2016, the logo has quietly disappeared from television.
 * It can still be spotted as an opening logo in home video releases distributed by Yle Tallennemyynti/Yle Myynti and VLMedia Oy.
 * Home video releases that have the 4:3 aspect ratio feature the separate letterboxed logo.