PBS Special Idents

1st Logo (2001)
Logo: Unknown

Technique: Unknown

Music/Sounds: Unknown

Availability: Unknown

2nd Logo (2003-November 8, 2006)
Logo: Unknown

Technique: Unknown

Music/Sounds: A 10 note orchestra fanfare which is part of the stock Warner-Chappell Production Music library, with Bob Boving announcing "This is Veterans Day on PBS". Sometimes, a different voiceover says "You're watching Veterans Day on PBS".

Availability: Seen on American Masters episodes of the era. It also appeared on rebroadcasts of American Masters Veterans Day episodes of the era.

(November 2, 1998-September 5, 1999)
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Logo: On a white background, historic images zoom out and black numbers zoom in. An outline of a white circle zooms out very fast and then changes into the PBS P-Head inside a circle on the right and the historical images fade out. Finally, the numbers transform into the word "Serif" on the left.

Technique: The circle zooming out, the numbers zooming and transforming.

Music/Sounds: A futuristic choir tune with an announcer saying "This is History's Best on PBS". When opening programs, the announcer says, "Presenting History's Best on PBS". Sometimes, it's worded as "You're watching History's Best on PBS".

Availability: Extremely rare. This was used instead of the 7th logo on a short-lived programming block called History's Best. On home video, this appears on the Ken Burns documentary Not for Ourselves Alone. It also appears on a few episodes of American Experience released on home video at the time.

(January 17, 2016-March 5, 2017)
Logo: Against a brown background featuring BG graphics from Mercy Street, the Mercy Street title appears, followed by the typical PBS logo appearing in its place.

Technique: The Mercy Street title and PBS logo appearing.

Music/Sounds: A string tune sourced from incidental music from Mercy Street. An announcer says, "You've been watching Mercy Street on PBS."

Availability: Appears only on Mercy Street; not even the half-hour behind the scenes special Inside Mercy Street has this. Now no longer current due to the show's cancellation.

1st Logo (2011-December 12, 2014)
Logo: Against a purple/magenta background, an orange circle forms itself in watercolor in the center of the screen, followed by a pink circle to its left and a blue circle to its right. "Serif arts", with "Serif" in magenta, fades in within the orange circle, and the Circle P-Head forms itself to the left. The URL "pbs.org/arts" fades in below.

Technique: The circles forming themselves.

Music/Sounds: A guitar piece.

Availability: Seen on old PBS Arts programs. Its last known sighting was on the Live From Lincoln Center episode "Curtain Up: The School of American Ballet Workshop", first broadcast on December 12, 2014.

2nd Logo (2013-2014)
Logo: Unknown

Technique: Unknown

Music/Sounds: Unknown

Availability: Seen on Pennsylvania Ballet Celebrates 50 Years.

3rd Logo (2014-October 2, 2015; June 8, 2020)
Logo: Against a white background, objects resembling glass curtains part, revealing the Circle P-Head with "Serif | ARTS" to the right. "Serif" is in the usual font. Below is the URL "pbs.org/arts" and, to the right, the Twitter hashtag "#PBSarts".

Technique: The glass curtains parting.

Music/Sounds: A choir at the start, with an upbeat synthesized tune backing and a 9-note horn stinger at the end.

Availability: Seen during the 2014-2015 PBS Arts season. It was retired following a rebroadcast of In Performance at the White House honoring songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and its last appearance was on 2020 national rebroadcast of the Great Performance episode "Twilight: Los Angeles".

4th Logo (October 9, 2015-2016)
Logo: The camera tracks through a colorful environment full of decorations and 2D sculptures of various performers. At the end, the PBS Arts logo is revealed.

Variant: An abbreviated version appears at the end of programs.

Technique: Just the decorations and their minimal movements.

Music/Sounds: A Latino-flavored fanfare with a choir and strings.

Availability: Seen on 2015-2016 PBS Arts programs, including a rebroadcast of Royal Paintbox. This appeared at the start of an hour-long Bluegrass Underground special, though the regular logo appeared at the end.

5th Logo (October 21, 2016-October 31, 2019; August 7, 2020)
Logo: Unknown

Variant: Same as the previous logo.

Technique: Unknown

Music/Sounds: A hip-hop tune with orchestral hits.

Availability: Seen on 2016-2019 PBS Arts programs. First seen on Hamilton's America, and last seen on a partial rebroadcast of Soundbreaking, having been officially retired by the start of the 2019 fall season. It was later preserved on 2020 rebroadcast of the Great Performances episode "In the Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams"

1st Logo (1988)
Logo: On the blue background we see a "Election 88" text then the color blue and red then PBS text has a P-Head purple and blue fades in.

Technique: The P-Head fades in.

Music/Sounds: A five-note horn tune including the America the Beautiful theme song

Availability: Seen at the start of the 1988 election special on American Archive of Public Broadcasting.

2nd Logo (1992)
Logo: On the white background we see a America flag blue red then the P-Head fading in then "PBS ELECTION 92" when see the red-blue animated text The logo was fades out.

Technique: The waving flag of this logo.

Music/Sounds: Unknown

Availability: Extinct. Seen at the start of a 1992 election special.

3rd Logo (1996)
Logo: Unknown

Technique: Unknown

Music/Sounds: Unknown

Availability: Extinct.

4th Logo (2000)
Logo: Unknown

Technique: Unknown

Music/Sounds: Unknown

Availability: Extinct. Seen on election-themed programming in 2000.

5th Logo (2004)
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Logo: On a purple background, "By the People" fades in with lines drawing in above and below, then it appears in the middle of the screen, now with the text "Election 2004". The PBS logo animates next to it. The website URL fades in.

Technique: The lines drawing.

Music/Sounds: Same as on the Frontline variant of the 2002 PBS logo.

Availability: Extinct. Appeared on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, among other election-themed programs in 2004.

6th Logo (2008)
Logo: On the white background when " PBS VOTE 2008" then taking out then Be more PBS circling P-Head ident.

Technique: Animation this logo

Music/Sounds: Announcer saying Trusted In-Depth Independent "This is PBS"

Availability: Extinct. Appeared with Washington Week and Frontline.

7th Logo (2012)
Logo: Unknown

Technique: Unknown

Music/Sounds: Unknown

Availability: Extinct. Appeared on Charlie Rose, among other election-themed programs in 2012.

8th Logo (July 15-November 8, 2016)


Logo: Unknown

Technique: Unknown

Music/Sounds: A soft fanfare, with a male voiceover saying, "Reliable. Balanced. Real. Election 2016 on PBS."

Music/Sounds Variants: The logo is sometimes shortened. There are two short variants, each with their own shortened voiceover: either "Election 2016 on PBS." or "Reliable. Balanced. Real. PBS."

Availability: Appeared on election-themed programs in 2016. First appeared on the Washington Week Cleveland Roadshow Edition. Its last appearance was on the marathon-length special PBS NewsHour: Vote 2016.

9th Logo (December 19, 2019-December 25, 2020)


Logo: Unknown

Technique: Unknown.

Music/Sounds: The 2001 ITV News theme.

Availability: Appeared on election-themed programming for nearly a year, including PBS NewsHour, Washington Week, Amanpour and Company, Frontline, and American Experience. Debuted on PBS NewsHour's 2020 Democratic debate special and made its last regular appearance on PBS NewsHour's Biden victory special. The last program to show this logo was the Christmas 2020 edition of Washington Week.

Legacy: It's next to no surprise that this logo is PBS's longest-lasting election-themed logo, due to the long-lasting circumstances surrounding the 2020 election.

(2013-October 28, 2019)
Logo: Unknown

Technique: Unknown

Music/Sounds: An abridged version of the 2009 CPB logo's music. At the end of the program, a voiceover says, "PBS, your home for independent film."

Availability: Appears at the end of Independent Lens and POV.

(2014-2019)
Logo: Unknown

Technique: Unknown

Music/Sounds: A solemn yet uplifting four-note brass piece that sounds almost like the first three notes of "Taps". At the end of the program, a voiceover says, "This is PBS."

Availability: Can be seen on PBS programs about American servicemen, including the annual National Memorial Day Concert.

(June 20, 2017-2018)
Logo: Unknown

Technique: Unknown

Music/Sounds: A quick, lively tropical tune.

Availability: Debuted on The Story of China. Also appears on Big Pacific and Great Yellowstone Thaw.

(September 12-17, 2016)
Logo: Unknown

Technique: Unknown

Music/Sounds: Unknown

Availability: Only seen on episodes of POV, Frontline, Nova, Craft in America, and other programs that take a look at the American education system and were broadcast over one week in September 2016.

(July 2, 2019- )


Logo: Unknown

Technique: Unknown

Music/Sounds: Unknown

Availability: Seen on space-themed programming broadcast on PBS to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, beginning with the Secrets of the Dead episode "Galileo's Moon".

(April 9, 2014-October 30, 2019)
Logo: Unknown

Technique: Unknown

Music/Sounds: A new-age rock tune. A female voiceover says, "Think Wednesday, think PBS."

Availability: Seen at the end of The Mystery of Matter, as well as first-run episodes of Earth's Natural Wonders, Nova, and The Brain with David Eagleman, among other programs on the Think Wednesday block, all exclusively during the primetime broadcasts (save for The Mystery of Matter, which used only this logo at the end).

(June 11, 2020-)
Logo: Similar to the generic variant of the 2019 logo, but the P-head zooms out a bit farther back and closer to the top edge of the screen, the byline "America's Home for Documentaries" appears below, and the blue background is translucent, with an Asian woman operating a camera behind it.

Variant: There are three known different cropping variants of the footage behind the blue, one of which only shows the camera. There is also a variant with a red-headed Anglo woman operating the camera.

Technique: Same as the generic variant of the 2019 logo, plus the camera moving behind everything.

Music/Sounds: Same as the All-American Memories variant of the 2019 logo. A voiceover says, "You're watching PBS, America's home for documentaries."

Availability: First appeared on the 2020 rebroadcast of The National Parks: America's Best Idea. Currently appears on new broadcasts of The American Experience, as well as on some episodes of NOVA. The second episode of Benjamin Franklin has this, but not the first. It may also appear on new broadcasts of Finding Your Roots.

Legacy: Discounting any Election logos, this is the first unique genre-specific or program-specific logo in the 2019 PBS logo family.