While the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks logo features such a dangerous creature as the shark, the colors appear calm and peaceful.
The professional rugby club from Sutherland, New South Wales, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks joined the first rugby league only 4 years after its foundation, in 1967. It was the New South Wales Rugby League, which became the Australian Rugby Football League at the end of the 1990s.
Today the Shark takes the second position in the National Rugby League ranking, right after the Penrith Panthers. In 2016 the Sharks managed to win the NRL championship, but that was their only trophy.
What is Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks?
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks is the name of a professional rugby club from New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1963, today the club competes in the National Rugby League, being one of the strongest players. The Sharks have Endeavour Field as their home arena and Craig Fitzgibbon as the head coach.
The team started playing as Cronulla-Caringbah in 1963. It was only in 1967 when it was admitted to the New South Wales Rugby League premiership, that the word “Sharks” appeared in its name.
Taking this into consideration, it’s pretty natural that the earliest crest (1967) still reflected the old name and didn’t comprise sharks of any sort. Instead, you could see a black-and-white ship inside a white shield. It was supposed to be Captain Cook’s ship, HM Bark Endeavour. The thick teal outline on the bottom of the shield looked like the sea. There was the lettering “Cronulla Sutherland” and a yellow rugby ball on the top.
Only a year later, a circular crest with a black shark on the white background was introduced.
From the late 1970s through to the late 1990s, the club almost always opted for a black roundel logo with a blue shark.
The redesign of 1978 has kept the circular composition of the Sharks badge, but played with the style and colors of the logo. The new version featured a solid black background, a thick white outline with the white uppercase lettering around its perimeter, and a bright blue shark, drawn in the center of the roundel, with its tail up. The new shark was more realistic and detailed than the previous one, yet still pretty schematic.
In 1998-2003 (following the Super League), the Sharks used a blue and white star-shaped design. Over this period, the shortened name “Sharks” was used.
In 2004, after the full name returned, the club introduced a completely new logo design with a sky blue shark over a shield with a black outline.
The palette of the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks logo includes sky blue, white, and black.