While the Arizona Wildcats logo has gone through several transformations, it has remained consistent in its core for almost half a century. Since 1972, it has been based on letters (first “UA,” then “A”).
Arizona Wildcats represent the University of Arizona, a public educational institution, founded in 1885, and based in Tucson. The athletic program of the university is composed of 18 men/s and women/s teams, and women do have more sports are covered. There are ladies teams in soccer, softball, gymnastics, and many more, while the men Wildcats are mostly known for their basketball and baseball achievements.
As for the visual identity of the Arizona Wildcats, its history is pretty laconic, with just one redesign throughout the program’s existence. The logo of the athletic teams has always been based on the letter “A” without any additional graphics. And if the original badge was at least somehow creative, the current one is very regular and simple.
What are Arizona Wildcats?
Arizona Wildcats is the name of the athletic program from the University of Arizona. The program is composed of 18 teams, where men and women compete in various sports disciplines, including Basketball, Baseball, Track and Field, Swimming, and several others. Arizona Wildcats compete in the first division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
The logo used from 1972 to 1976 featured the highly stylized letters “UA” in black (or blackish blue) with a very thin red outline. The letters were the initials of the name of the college “University of Arizona.” The soft curves were apparently inspired by a cat’s tail. The very shape of the ends of the letters seemed to remind the tail of a cat. We can also notice the way the two letters mirrored each other’s shape creating a harmonious design.
And yet, we can’t say that was an exceptionally successful logo. To begin with, the “Wildcat” idea wasn’t represented very well. If you had looked at the emblem for the first time without knowing the name of the team, you would probably have suggested it depicted a snake. We can even imagine fans of other teams calling the players “Wild worms” with reference to the logo. So, it’s hardly a surprise it only survived for four years.
The primary Arizona Wildcats logo introduced in 1990 features only the letter “A.” Or, to be precise, you can see three letters “A” positioned one inside the other (a red one, a white one, and a dark blue one). The red letter has sharp serifs and a sharp top, while the white and blue letters with their block-like serifs belong to a slab serif type.
The alternative logo has featured a stylized wildcat’s muzzle since 1990. The muzzle belongs to one of the university’s mascots, the anthropomorphized wildcats named Wilbur and Wilma. The cat can be given either in blue or in red. The background is white in both the blue and red version.
The Arizona Wildcats men’s basketball team is often named among the most successful programs in the US. The history of the women’s basketball program in its modern form started in 1972. The women’s team is known for being runner-up in the Pac-10 Conference Tournament twice and making seven appearances in NCAA tournaments.
The team boasts over 120 years of history (since 1899). The name “Wildcats” was adopted in 1914. One of the most successful periods was the 1990s.
The four national championship titles Arizona Wildcats baseball team has won so far make it one of the most known teams in the US.
CARDINAL
PANTONE: PMS 200 C
HEX COLOR #CC0033;
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CMYK: (0, 100, 65, 15)
NAVY
PANTONE PMS 281 C
HEX: #003366;
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