In my last (food) blog, I created an off-topic post on the special liveries used on Southwest Airlines planes. On the list of the special liveries and their tail numbers, I included a link to where each aircraft was currently, per FlightRadar24.com. Over time, some of the aircraft has changed (as I type this, I have a piece of N352SW–the original “Lone Star One” sitting on my desk), so I figured it was time that I updated the post on this new travel blog.
I’ve excluded aircraft on the table that briefly carried a livery for an ad campaign (like the “Beats One” based upon the headphone brand coop marketing campaign with Southwest, though that plane was N909WN. Also worth mentioning: The Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary Livery, N954WN, though this was converted back to standard livery in 3/2022.) as I don’t think they’re novel enough to include here. However, I will include some milestone aircraft which carried livery but may not have any special livery today.
As the aircraft change, I’ll come back and update this table. As of 1/4/2024, all of the liveries that are 737-700s are in the process of being converted into 737-800s, so this whole list will probably change sooner rather than later.
Click on the registration number links to see the aircraft’s current location:
| Livery Name | Registration (Aircraft Type) | Notes |
| Arizona One | N955WN (737-700) | Replaced N383SW. |
| California One | N8653A (737-800) | N943WN replaced N609SW. However, sometime around 11/2023 was swapped for the current 737-800. |
| Colorado One | N230WN (737-700) | This airplane is also the 5000th 737 ever produced, and there’s a special commemorative plate installed on the top of the forward entry door frame commemorating this fact. |
| Florida One | N945WN (737-700) | |
| Freedom One (US Flag) | N500WR (737-800) | Released in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of SWA. This was the first 737-800 that carried special “flag” livery. |
| Illinois One | N8619F (737-800) | Replaced N918WN circa 9/2022. |
| Imua One (Hawaii) | N8710M (737-MAX 8) | Revealed 4/28/2023. |
| Lone Star One (Texas Flag) | N8660A (737-800) | Replaced N931WN, which replaced N352SW. The original Lone Star One was the first SWA special flag livery ever. |
| Louisiana One | N946WN (737-700) | |
| Maryland One | N214WN (737-700) | |
| Missouri One | N280WN (737-700) | Originally, N280WN was the “Penguin One,” which was a second SeaWorld themed plane after the “Shamu One.” This ended in 2014 when SWA ended their coop marketing with SeaWorld. More information here. |
| Nevada One | N8646B (737-800) | Historically N727SW. Replaced with -800 in 5/2023. |
| New Mexico One | N8655D (737-800) | Replacing N781WN. New hardware re-painted in livery 7/11/2023. |
| Tennessee One | N8620H (737-800) | Originally, the first Tennessee one was 737-7H4 N922WN the “SI One” for Sports Illustrated. It was repainted and started to fly as the Tennessee One 2/2016. It was replaced with the current 737-8H4 for fleet modernization, and N922WN was repainted in standard “Heart” livery. |
| Triple Crown One | N409WN (737-700) Soon to be N8681M (737-800) Estimated mid-March 2024 | Originally 737-3H4 N647SW. The original overhead bins (with the Employee names) are on permanent display at SWA’s TOPS building. The new livery retains overhead bins with the same employee names on them. The 737-700 N409WN was the second “Triple Crown One” to fly for SWA. As of 1/3/2023, N8681M is being converted to the new Triple Crown One. The overhead bins from N409WN will be retired, but the Employee names will be transferred into N8681M (hopefully before the first revenue flight scheduled after the aircraft is repainted.) The “Triple Crown” refers to Southwest’s achievement of the US DOT’s “triple crown,” simultaneously taking home three annual honors: Best on-time performance, least lost or damaged baggage, and fewest customer complaints in a given year. Southwest boasted all 3 from 1992-1996. |
| Charles E. Taylor | N906WN (737-700) | Replaces N289CT, though the 737-7H4 is still in active service as of 12/2022. (Charles E. Taylor was the first aviation mechanic and built the engine used on the Wright’s flyer.) |
| Colleen Barrett Classic / “Heroine of the Heart” | N872CB (737-MAX 8) | The aircraft replaces N266WN, which is still in active service as of 12/2022. On 3/6/2024, a placard was installed in the forward galley honoring Colleen Barrett. It says: “This Southwest aircraft is dedicated to the woman at the Heart of our Southwest Culture, a Champion for our Employees, and a true Servant Leader.” That may seem like a lot of capitalized words, but this correctly fits the rules of “Colleen’s Bible.” Colleen’s Bible is an internal SWA document that was developed for consistent Customer Service communications. “Colleen’s Bible” is now used as a style guide for all SWA communications. This aircraft is in the classic “Spirit” livery, which features a dominant color named “Canyon Blue.” This livery style was introduced 1/16/2001 to kick off SWA’s 30th anniversary. It was also the year that Colleen Barrett became President of SWA. The Spirit livery was the first major update to SWA’s livery design, ever. The look was designed by SWA’s ad agency (GSD&M) which was under Colleen’s Leadership. One of the founders (Tim McClure–the “M” of GSD&M) was likely the driving force behind the new color of blue, which was inspired by the sunrise over a canyon, thus “Canyon Blue.” McClure also played a big role in designing just about every specialty plane SWA did between the SeaWorld one in 1988 (i.e. – the Shamu One) all the way up to the Louisiana One in 2018. (As an aside for all of us Texans: Tim also originally penned the phrase “Don’t Mess with Texas.”) The Heroine of the Heart decal was introduced 2007 as a temporary tribute to Colleen in conjunction with the 15th anniversary of SWA’s “Heroes of the Heart” program, which you can learn more about under the “Heroes of the Heart” livery, below. |
| Donald G. Ogden | N439WN (737-700) | This 737-700 replaces 737-200 N71SW. Donald Ogden was SWA’s first VP of flight operations. |
| Fred J. Jones | N201LV (737-700) | Previously N96SW. Fred Jones was an original employee hired by Jack Vidal about a month before Southwest’s first flight in 1971. Per Herb himself, “He worked in the cold; he worked in the dark; he scrounged for parts; he improvised tools; he worked for low wages when we started; and he got the job done no matter what the circumstances.” |
| Heart One | N8642E (737-800) | The first aircraft painted in Southwest’s “Heart” livery. |
| Heart Two | N8645A (737-800) | The second aircraft painted in Southwest’s “Heart” livery. |
| Herbert D. Kelleher | N871HK (737-MAX 8) | Replaces N52SW and N711HK. Painted in the original “Desert Gold” livery colors of Southwest Airlines. The nose has a decal honoring Herb. Of course, Herb Kelleher co-founded Southwest Airlines. |
| Jack Vidal | N956WN (737-700) | Replaces N601WN. Jack Vidal was the first VP of Maintenance for SWA. |
| June M. Morris | N607SW (737-300) | Retired. |
| Rollin W. King | N417WN (737-700) | Replaced 737-200 N67SW in 2001. Rollin Co-Founded Southwest Airlines with Herb Kelleher. |
| 25th Anniversary | N953WN (737-700) | Originally, N629SW was the “Silver One,” released in commemoration of Southwest’s 25th anniversary. The livery was entirely reflective silver, and the interior had silver seats. Eventually, the reflective silver livery was painted over with silver colored paint (for easier maintenance), and then again eventually in “canyon blue” (in the warrior livery), keeping the SWA 25th logo on the nose. This aircraft replaces the old “silver one” with the same 25th anniversary logo in the new “Heart” livery. |
| Heroes of the Heart | N938WN (737-700) | Replaces N363SW. Every year during the Valentine’s Day celebration at SWA, one team is honored with the “Heroes of the Heart” award, which honors “behind the scenes” teams at Southwest that kept Southwest’s “heart” beating over the past year. The text of the decal on the front of the aircraft changes every year to commemorate the team being honored. |
| Warrior One | N8301J (737-800) | This was the first 737-800 to enter Southwest service. The aircraft was repainted in the standard “Heart” livery in 2018 in preparations for ETOPS service, but didn’t initially have the nose art after being repainted. The nose art was re-applied to in in 2022 using the special “Southwest Sans” font. |
| 2000th 737 NG Produced | N248WN (737-700) | |
| 500th 737 Produced | N281WN (737-700) | |
| SWA 35th Anniversary | N238WN (737-700) | Now painted with standard Heart Livery. |
| The Spirit of Kittyhawk | N300SW (737-300) | Permanently a museum aircraft at the “Frontiers of Flight” museum at Dallas Love Field. The airplane was the first modern 737 to enter scheduled service. You can read more about it on SWA’s blog. N301SW and N302SW also carried the “Spirit of Kittyhawk” livery. Both have been retired. |
| The Spirit of Hope | N443WN (737-700) | Released in support of Ronald McDonald House charities. The overhead bins are covered in children’s artwork. |
| ‘Trolls Band Together’ | N406WN (737-700) | Livery released (probably for a limited time) along with an announcement of a new SWA partnership with Dreamworks. Per the news article, 10/5/2023: ‘One side of the aircraft features Poppy and her long-lost sister, Viva, while the other side highlights two characters central to the film franchise: Branch and Poppy. The design continues onboard the aircraft with Trolls-themed images on a selection of cabin window shades.’ Read more here. |
| The 1000th Boeing 737 Aircraft | N8885Q (737-MAX 8) | This was the 1000th Boeing 737 ever delivered to Southwest Airlines. A celebration was held at SWA Corporate for it on 10/18/2023. This 737 MAX 8 aircraft is painted in the normal Heart livery, but has a sticker commemorating the 1000th delivery on the nose. There is also a special commemorative plate installed in the forward entry door frame, similar to that of the Colorado One’s plate, described above. |
| Destination 225° | N8891Q (737-MAX 8) | This is pretty much the standard “Heart” livery, but has the text “Destination 225°” written in the Southwest Sans font on the aft fuselage on both sides of the aircraft. This is a nod to the internal pilot development program at Southwest. |
(LAST UPDATED 3/12/2024 @ 10:38 AM “Herb Time.”)
Super cool info Joe! always wondered how many special liveries there are.
Hey Joe – I am a mod at StreamTimeLIVE, with a cam at MDW.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQQkpnATvv8 – We reference your site often to help viewers identify special liveries and schedules. Say Hey if you ever visit. I am Johnnylu in the chat – in Blue with a wrench.
Very cool. Thanks John!
Hi Joe.
I think the tail number listed for California One is incorrect. It should be N8653A.
Love the list though.
EK
Great catch. I’ve made the update. Thanks for letting me know!
Hey – thanks for stopping by MDW the other day! Dallas Operations has the MDW screen up for current info as well. JohnnyLu
Sure thing! Thanks John!
I’m so glad this exists! Be sure to update it, but I just saw the Southwest Lone Star One landing in San Antonio on my way home from work and it made me wonder if it was unique or not. Turns out it is! Plus, having it link to it’s publicly available flight data is a great tough too, now I can confirm exactly when I saw it!
Sure thing Kyle! The tail numbers are probably all changing sooner rather than later as they are all being upgraded from 737-700s to 737-800s. Stay tuned!
Hey Joe.
Do you consider the aircraft with the Destination 225 on the fuselage near the tail (N8991Q) to be a special livery? Just curious because I don’t see it listed. I just saw it on the Midway stream.
Thanks.
Eric K.
Joe – it is N8891Q – sorry about that!
Very cool. Yes, I consider even these subtle ones to be special livery. I’ll get this one added. Thanks for the suggestion!
I have no idea what your reply was – all that shows on my iPhone is a narrow column that only shows the first 2-3 letters per line. :-). But I see that you posted Destination225 so I am glad I could contribute again. 🙂
Absolutely! Thanks Eric!
Question about cam sites .. can you discuss via email?
Sure! Drop me a line at joe@joesbucketlist.com.
New Lone Star One N8660A is flying