The long summer wait is almost over and the new season is almost upon us so its time for an alternative preview to the season. You’ve been along to see your team in the flesh, you’ve bought the hideous third strip to wear in the pub when they play, but have you ever wondered where your club badge came from and why it has a ship, 2 arrows and a lion on it?

Wonder no more, as we take a look at the why and how of club football logo design. When you look at a lot of the teams in the premier league, it’s obvious why the badge looks the way it does, Chelsea’s lion for example, but others, like Wigan are a little more obscure. But other teams have logos which are far harder to understand.

There is no real mystery around the Wigan athletic badge despite its obvious complexities and inclusion of so many items. Their club logo is actualy adopted from the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, but that doesnt tell the full story. The badge is made up of diamond shapes, a lion, a sparrow hawk, a knight’s helmet, a castle, a tree, some grass and what appears to be the tails of a jester’s hat. With a tinge of red, the main colours are black and gold. Odd considering Wigan play in blue and white then.

Unravelling the reasons behind these eclectic choices for inclusion tells a unique story, as it does for most football clubs badges. The black diamonds represent the local coal mining industry while the red rose is from the county of Lancashire. More geographical inclusions come from the lion and castle, taken from the local arms of the county of Wigan and the tree is known locally as athe Wiggin Tree, a pun on the district name. The sparrow hawk was included as a tip to former boroughs under Leigh and Atherton. In other words, Wigan’s logo designers made full use of its locale and historical heritage when choosing a crest.

Unlike Wigan, who have only changed their logo 3 times in over 100 years, other teams have not been so lucky. Fulham for instance had to completely redesign their logo in 2001 due to some complications around marketing of their brand. Marketing reasons were cited for the change, but in reality the fact that the football club didnt even own their own logo made many things impossible. When you add in that a survey of Fulham fans found that only 14% could identify their football club logo, you can see why it made sense to change. Thus the current design is bland and plain, but at least the club owns it!

 

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