Graphic designers love to put secret elements into logos, and this is no different in sports.
These teams’ logos have secrets you might not have seen. Check them out!
FIFA World Cup 2014 (Soccer)
Brazil’s FIFA World Cup 2014 logo kind of looks like a hand holding a soccer ball… which is a foul, by the way, and will earn you a yellow card. It also kind of looks like the World Cup Trophy. But it REALLY looks like a frustrated Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation, who doesn’t seem to approve of this logo at all.
Milwaukee Brewers (MLB)
The Brewers, Milwaukee’s MLB franchise, have a logo that’s a baseball mitt. If you take a closer gander, you’ll see that the fingers are an M, for Milwaukee, and the thumb and palm are the B, for Brewers. Wow!
Chicago Bulls (NBA)
Everyone know THIS logo, it’s from the Chicago Bulls, home of basketball legend, Michael Jordan. But what happens when you turn the bull upside down? Why, it’s a sad robot reading a book. This is what happens when graphic designers have too much imagination and not enough of a backlog of work.
Montreal Canadiens (NHL)
The NHL team that won the most Stanley Cups (which NO OTHER TEAM will EVER catch up to), the Montreal Canadiens, have one of the most iconic logos in all of sports. You can see it’s a C with an H in the center. People think H is for the Canadiens’ nickname, the “Habs,” but the logo really stands for “Canadiens Hockey.”
George Washington University (NCAA and Collegiate Sports)
George Washington University’s athletics logo, besides reminding us of G-Dub (George W. Bush, “Mr. Nucular” himself), also stands for, you guessed it “George Washington.” But check out the hidden Washington Monument in the lower middle crease of the W. That’s astounding work there, Sherlock!
Hartford Whalers (NHL)
The now extinct Hartford Whalers had a great logo. It was basically a whale’s tail. The top part was the tail. The bottom part was a W for Whalers. And the negative space in between was a H for Hartford. They’re now in Carolina, but we wish they were back in Hartford, if only for their logo.
Houston Rockets (NBA)
The NBA team, the Houston Rockets, have a great team logo to go along with their great team name. We assume they’re called the Rockets because they fly up into the stratosphere, where the basketball basket is located, to dunk. Their logo has a straight line on the R that’s a space rocket launching, and the 2 bottom pieces of the R, along with the ellipse, make up the H for Houston.
Minnesota Twins (MLB)
There is a partial underline under the team name that only underlines the “win” from Twins. Pretty funny. The funnier part is that the Minnesota Twins won the World Series the year they underlined those three letters. The FUNNIEST part is that they’ve only won the World Series once since then, and have sucked all the other years they’ve played in between. Maybe they should also underline the S to guarantee more wins.
New York Islanders (NHL)
This old logo with lots of history has one (mostly unknown) element hidden within it. The blue part in the “I” points to the location of the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale! Unfortunately, the New York Islanders now play in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center! D’oh!
Le Tour de France (Cycling)
The Tour de France biking extravaganza is known everywhere except in the US… only 6 people know of it here, and they’re all French, or of French descent. If you look closely, you’ll see that the O in Tour is the back wheel of a bicycle, the U and the R are the rider, and the yellow dot at the end is both the front wheel of the bicycle and the color of the “Maillot Jaune” uniform worn by the winner of each stage of the race.
Montreal Expos (Defunct MLB Team)
Now defunct for over a decade, the Montreal Expos, known as Les Expos de Montréal in Québec, used to have this logo. It was made up of 3 letters. The entire logo spelled M, for Montreal, the red was an E, for Expos, and the blue at the end was a B, for baseball. C’etait incroyable! Oui, oui!
Colorado Avalanche (NHL)
Colorado’s NHL entrant, the Colorado Avalanche, have a logo that’s reminiscent of the state. Ironically enough, the A, which stands for Avalanche, represents a mountain (of which there are many in Colorado), while the snow forms a C, for Colorado, and represents an avalanche going down a mountain. Someone was a little confused designing this logo.
St. Louis Blues (NHL)
The National Hockey League’s St. Louis Blues have a logo that’s a musical note. But it’s really a 64th note… denoted by the four lines at the top. People seem to think it’s a 64th note because St. Louis was founded in ’64… 1764, that is!
Dallas Mavericks (NBA)
This is the logo for the NBA team from Dallas, the Dallas Mavericks. It’s a very angry looking horse. The reason the Mavericks’ horse mascot looks mad is because it has an M, obviously standing for Mavericks, branded onto its forehead. That must have hurt a bit!
Atlanta Falcons (NFL)
The National Football League’s Atlanta Falcons have a very well known logo, which has morphed a bit in recent years, but remained mostly the same. Upon closer observation, you’ll notice that the logo (a falcon) is shaped like an F for… drumroll, please… the Falcons.
Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL)
Pittsburgh is known as steel country. The Pittsburgh Steelers name AND logo are based on the name AND logo of company U.S. Steel, which is from Pittsburgh. The city spawned a massive steel industry decades ago. We can’t say the Steelers’ logo is very original… actually, it’s a direct copy of a company’s logo, but it is nice that they’re honoring an important industry in the city.
Washington Capitals alternate logo (NHL)
The National Hockey League has a team in Washington called the Washington Capitals. Before you is their alternate logo. The bald eagle with spread wings makes a W for Washington, and the Capitol-building-negative-space silhouette at the bottom represents Capitals. Is that a hidden pun?
University of Oregon (NCAA and Collegiate Sports)
Here is the University of Oregon’s logo. The O stands for Oregon (as if you didn’t know that already). But the interior of the big O also represents the famous track at the university’s Hayward Field. In case you didn’t guess, the University of Oregon has a Track & Field program… but you did already guess that.
Missouri Western University (NCAA and Collegiate Sports)
Missouri Western University has sports teams called the Missouri Western Griffons, and their logo is a griffon. The shape of the logo is also vaguely reminiscent of the shape of Missouri… actually, it IS in the shape of Missouri!
Arizona Diamondbacks alternate logo (MLB)
Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks have an alternate logo that looks like this. If you look closely, it’s a diamondback snake head, made up of “d” and “b” (which stand for diamondback). It even has a little tongue on the bottom. We like this one.
University of Arkansas — Pine Bluff (NCAA and Collegiate Sports)
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff has historically been a black college. Their sports team is nicknamed the Golden Lions. The team’s logo is a lion with a huge mane! The logo’s graphic designer slyly inserted 4 letters into the lion’s mane. U and A for University of Arkansas, followed by P and B for Pine Bluff. The logo exists in 2 formats, one looking left and the other looking right… with the lettering adjusted accordingly in each version.
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