A tour of Southwest Airlines' eye-catching state liveries

The latest addition has been the "Missouri One" (N280WN), unveiled earlier this year. Picture: Southwest Airlines

The latest addition has been the "Missouri One" (N280WN), unveiled earlier this year. Picture: Southwest Airlines

One of my passtimes every time I travel to the US is to collect quarter dollar coins of the "50 State Quaters" series, that depict each one of the American states.

Source: Wikipedia

Source: Wikipedia

And you might wonder: why am I writing about coins on an aviation blog?

Well, because, Southwest airlines is doing pretty much the same thing with its Boeing 737 liveries! 

In what could be deemed the airline equivalent of the "50 State Quarter series", Southwest Airlines is decorating several of aircraft with state-themed colourful liveries.

To be sure, the American low cost airline is still far from having all 50 states in its fleet, as new designs are unveiled every now and then, the whole collection is quite impressive from a visual point of view, though, as each one of the state liveries is, on its own, like a piece of art.

 

Next is a gallery of Southwest's state liveries. Enjoy!

Lone Star Texas (N352SW), 1990. Picture: Southwest Airlines

Lone Star Texas (N352SW), 1990. Picture: Southwest Airlines

California One (N609SW), 1995. Picture: Southwest Airlines

California One (N609SW), 1995. Picture: Southwest Airlines

Nevada One (N727SW), 1999. Picture: Southwest Airlines

Nevada One (N727SW), 1999. Picture: Southwest Airlines

New Meixo One (N781WN), 2000. Pciture: Southwest Airlines

New Meixo One (N781WN), 2000. Pciture: Southwest Airlines

Maryland One (N214WN), 2005. Picture: Southwest Airlines

Maryland One (N214WN), 2005. Picture: Southwest Airlines

Illinois One (N918WN), 2008. Picture: Southwest Airlines

Illinois One (N918WN), 2008. Picture: Southwest Airlines

Florida One (N945WN), 2010. Picture: Southwest Airlines

Florida One (N945WN), 2010. Picture: Southwest Airlines

Colorado One (N230WN), 2012. Pciture: Southwest Airlines

Colorado One (N230WN), 2012. Pciture: Southwest Airlines