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Belgian Icon

50,000 People Voted for Belgian Icon, Jury Selects Winner from Top 5

In an exciting competition launched by Brussels Airlines, over 50,000 people voted to help choose the next Belgian Icon. Out of the many entries, five designs emerged as the most popular: Lucky Luke, the Atomium, Cycling, Poppies, and the Shrimp Fishers. These top five designs have now been presented to a jury that will select the final winner, which will be revealed in early November.

The contest, which began in August, was open to all Belgian citizens and residents. Participants were invited to submit their designs, and the airline received an overwhelming response with 900 entries. From there, an internal jury selected 15 finalists, and between October 4 and October 11, the public had the opportunity to vote for their favorite design.

Jury Selection
The responsibility of choosing the winning design now falls to a distinguished panel of judges. The jury consists of several well-known Belgian figures from various fields:

Sandra Kim, winner of the 1986 Eurovision Song Contest for Belgium
Alex Callier, from the band Hooverphonic, which created Brussels Airlines’ iconic safety video
Philippe Geluck, renowned for his famous ‘Le Chat’ cartoons
Michèle George, two-time gold medalist at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris
Sandrine Corman, former Miss Belgium and TV host
Gabrielle Szwarcenberg, designer of the Brussels Airlines uniforms
Elisia Poelman, painter, and Griet Aesaert, designer of luxury handbags, who both contributed to the airline’s amenity kits
With their expertise, the jury will choose the design that will grace one of Brussels Airlines’ planes as the next Belgian Icon, following in the footsteps of previous designs that celebrated Belgium’s cultural heritage.

The winning design will be unveiled in early November, and the selected artwork will soon take flight, representing Belgium around the world.

About Brussels Airlines’ Belgian Icons

The idea behind the Belgian Icons is to introduce the best of Belgium to the world. The Belgian Icons are known all over the world and make flying even more fun.

Brussels Airlines’ first Belgian Icon, Rackham, was introduced in 2015 and pays tribute to Tintin, the world-famous Belgian comic. Earlier this year, Amare was presented to the world which is the most recent Belgian Icon in cooperation with music festival Tomorrowland. The third Belgian Icon currently in the fleet is Trident, the official plane of the Belgian Red Devils and Red Flames, respectively the male and female national football teams.

These are the previous Belgian Icons:

  • Magritte was part of the fleet between 2016 and 2021. The aircraft was a homage to René Magritte, the Belgian surrealistic painter.
  • Aerosmurf smurfed the fleet between 2018 and 2023. This plane also took shape during a design contest organized by Brussels Airlines.
  • Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder, a Belgian icon from the 16th century, traveled the world between 2019 and 2023.
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