Although the Cincinnati Bengals logo has been heavily modified more than once, the tiger theme has always been present here.
Meaning and history
Though the football Club from Cincinnati has had numerous redesigns of its visual identity throughout the years, they’re all us one thing in common — a unique orange and black color palette, the first combination to be associated with tigers, no matter what contours of the image are.
1967 — 1969
The very first emblem for Cincinnati Bengals was introduced in 1967 and boasted a funny and bright tiger caricature. The cartoonish animal was running to the right with a white football in his paws, and the white helmet fell off his head, pointing at an extreme height speed. It was a friendly and cheerful image, though evoking a sense of determination and willingness of the club to fight and win.
1970 — 1980
The redesign of 1970 simplified the Bengals logo to an orange helmet with a black inscription on it. Though there was no image of a tiger in this version, the color palette still resembled an animal. The bold black lettering in a narrowed sans-serif typeface was outlined in white, creating a strong contrast with the solid and bright background.
1981 — 1986
In 1970 the logo of the club was redrawn, and now the orange helmet with its contours modernized featured a black pattern resembling the tiger’s coat. Smooth black stripes were placed all over the orange background of the helm, making it look stylish and modern. There was also a small white element — a solid dot, placed on the side from the black grill.
1987 — 1997
The logo, created for Cincinnati Bengals in 1987 featured a refined version of the previous emblem, with the lines and contours of the orange and black helmet strengthened and modified. The black grill became more massive and a small white element was added to the backside of the helmet. The black stripes were cleaned and placed with more space between each other, making a pattern more balanced and tiger-like.
1997 — 2003
The redesign of 1997 brought a new image to the club’s visual identity, and the emblem, used by Cincinnati Bengals during that period still exists as the secondary logo version of the team.
The emblem boasts a strong and modern portrait of a tiger with its mouth opened. The dangerous animal is executed in thick and smooth lines in black, orange, and white and featured its contours clean and sharp. The eyes of the tiger look intimidating and determined, which reflects the character of the team and its purpose.
2004 — Today
In 2004 Cincinnati Bengals introduced their new emblem, which featured a stylized extra-bold letter “B” in orange with three thick black stripes, which start on top of the letter and become pointed to its bottom. The massive letter with large square serifs and sharp angles looks confident and serious, while the tiger pattern evokes a sense of energy, power, and speed.
Font
The current Bengals logo includes only one letter, while the wordmark is comprised of the full name of the team. Its highlight is a custom fontinstantly recognizable due to the unusual serifs.
Color
The team’s official colors are black, orange, and white. The logo is black and orange, while the background is white.