The Manchester United badge is one of the most recognizable logos in
the world, but have you ever wondered how it came into being, the
history behind it or why it's got a devil on it? Well, if you have,
you've come to to the right place.
 |
The
Manchester United crest you see today was based on the coat of arms of
the Manchester City Council. Indeed the arms were embroidered into United
shirts for big games such as the victorious finals of the 1963 F.A. Cup
and 1968 European Cup.
The ship which you can see is a
reference to Manchester's trading prowess and the ship canal. The globe
is another reference to the city's world trading power. The globe is
covered by a swarm of bees. Bees? I hear is ask. The Council adopted the
bee in the 19th century because the creature is known for it's industry
and endeavor - Manchester was the birthplace of the industrial
revolution, so this symbol seemed quite fitting. The two animals on the
coat of arms are an antelope and a lion, the former wears a gold chain,
which refers to the city's innovative engineering feats, the latter wears
a castle crown - the city of Manchester grew up around the Roman
settlement of Castlefield. Both animals wear the red rose, which is the
official symbol of Lancashire. Underneath the arms is a motto "
"Consilio et Labore" which basically translates as "Wisdom and Effort"
 |
During
the 1960's Manchester United programmes and merchandise featured the
newly designed badge, which took the shield and ship from the Manchester
City Council coat of arms, with the words "Manchester United" on the
top banner and "Football Club" on the bottom banner. This new badge was
designed in line with the innovative style of play that Matt Busby brought to Manchester United.
 |
In
1970 the Manchester United badge featured it's famous devil symbol for
the first time, replacing the three yellow stripes.. This had been the
team's nickname ever since Matt Busby adopted it for the club a few
years earlier. He wanted to strike fear into his opponents with a new
nickname as he felt the Busby Babes
would not do this. He actually got the name from the Salford City Reds
rugby league team who were given the nickname Les Diables Rouges (The
Red Devils) by the French media after a successful tour of the country
in 1934 .
In 1972-73 the Manchester United badge become a
permanent feature on the football shirt. Up until then the club would
only use the Manchester City Council coat of arms on their shirts in cup
finals.
 |
The
badge pretty much remained unaltered for 28 years - United's kit
manufacturer in the mid-eighties Adidas did briefly replace the curly
bits on the top banner with a pair of football boots, but the club
quickly returned to the more traditional banner soon after. In 1998 the
badge lost the "Football Club" from the banner and replaced it with
"United" which of course was taken from the top banner. The new design
was created in an effort to turn Manchester United into brand, it seemed
like the club no longer wanted to known as 'just' a football club, a
school of thought that didn't sit well with many United fans at the
time.
{ 0 comments... read them below or add one }
Post a Comment