In Pictures: Vintage Travel Posters from Southern Africa

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South Africa - So Near by Qantas (1950s)
Originating from the fifties, Qantas have opted to represent South Africa with a women in traditional tribal dress. The airliner pictured behind her is the Lockheed Constellation - the first commercial pressurised-cabin plane.

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Call of the Wild - South Africa (1950s)
Designed by Bernard Sargent, commissioned by the government of the then Union of South Africa (now South Africa) and issued by the South African Tourist Corporation, this poster is incredibly simple but stunning. It depicts a gazelle drinking from a lake, looking at its reflection, using muted tribal colours and soft symmetry.

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Fly TWA Africa (c.1967)
Trans World Airlines was once one of the 'Big Four' airlines of America until it was acquired by American Airlines in the early 2000s. During its heyday, it flew to many exotic destinations across the world including Africa. TWA employed American designer David Klein to design this poster in the late 1960s, taking influences from traditional African art styles and colours.

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Air Afrique - vacances au Sénégal (c.1968)
Employing perhaps a more abstract take on tribal art, this poster was designed for Air Afrique, a French airline that existed between the early 1960s and 2002. It uses a traditional colours and depicts an African woman wearing bold ethnic dress, popular in the sixties, with others surrounding her and cultural pattern designs.

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Africa - PANAM (c.1967)
PANAM, the iconic all-American airline, has opted for a simple, clear yet highly stylish and cultural image of a woman in sub-Saharan traditional dress, patterned with an orthodox design. PANAM often didn't need to advertise all too much, its name and branding was internationally recognised without the need to promote.

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Ben Tully

Visual Design & Content Creation

Ben deals with all things design, working on the visual design of our annual guides, Destinations magazine, information leaflets, social media and email campaigns, and much more across the Alan Rogers, Rallies and Worldwide brands. He also produces written content for our blogs alongside our other contributors.

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