ABA is an abbreviation for the American Basketball Association, which was established in 1967 and turned into NBA in 1976. Before the merger, the professional men’s league consisted of eleven teams during the first years and was cut down to only 7 by 1975.
There were two logos of the American Basketball Association, left in history. The first one was fully based on the national flag of the United States, while the second — was a perfect representation of the organization’s essence and profile.
The official corporate logo of the ABA was composed of a shield, with the circle on its top. The circle, symbolizing a ball, contained a red three-letter wordmark, enclosed in a blue frame.
The biggest part of the shield was horizontally split into two parts — the upper one with vertical red and white stripes, and the bottom one in blue, with a white “American Basketball Association” inscription.
As for the additional logo, it was composed of a ball in tricolor (also blue, red and white), with a bold overlapping custom inscription “ABA”, where both “A” were colored blue, and “B” was in red.
The logo of the organization is timeless and traditional. Its bright color palette is a reflection of passion, power, and reliability, along with expertise and authority. The classical lines of the official ABA logo reflect its fundamental approach while the additional emblem symbolizes progressiveness and individuality.
The red stylized wordmark of the circular part of the logo was executed in a custom font, with rounded lines and curved tails of the letters “A”. Smooth and friendly, it was balanced by a strong and strict inscription in the bottom part of the emblem.
The capital letters of the nameplate were executed in a simple yet solid sans-serif typeface, which is very similar to Optima Pro Bold but slightly narrowed. The typeface is neat and delicate, evoking a sense of power and stability.