An operator logo is a logo which appears on the status screen of a mobile phone. Originally intended as a way for phone companies to brand phones attached to their networks, the operator logo has since become a method by which owners may customise their phones to reflect their own interests. It helped kick off mobile phone content advertising which became particularly prominent with ring tone adverts.
Later phones have provided the facility to have animated screen savers, or colour logos.
An industry has sprung up around the use of these logos, and around ring tones, tailored towards phones, such as those made by Nokia, which can receive new logos in a text message.
Several mobile phone companies provide services on their websites where users can design their own logos, and there is also software available which can be used to create them.