Leeds United is the name of the British football club, which is also known as The Whites or The Peacocks. The club was established in 1919 in West Yorkshire, and today is owned by Aser Group Holdings with Marcelo Bielsa as the head coach.
The history of the British football club’s visual identity is very intense and interesting. The main symbol, used for the team’s badge until the 1970s was an owl, as a tribute to the club’s homeland and its official crest. But the new manager of the club didn’t like the owl image, as thoughts it was unlucky, so decided to start the new design era for Leeds United.
What is Leeds United?
Leeds United is a professional football club from Great Britain, which was established in 1919 in West Yorkshire. Today the club competes in the Premier League, has Elland Road as the home arena, and Jesse Marsch as the head coach.
The logo, introduced by the club in 1973 was designed by Paul Trevillion and became iconic. This abstract blue and yellow emblem, composed of a rounded rhombus symbol placed in a blue circle, got nicknamed “Smiley” and stayed with the team for almost a decade.
In 1976 the Smiley gets its color palette switched to a more intense version — the yellow image becomes a bright blue, almost electric shade, and is being placed on a solid yellow circle.
In 1977 the outline of the emblem becomes gray and thick and the wordmark first appears around it. The “Leeds United AFC” in white bold sans serif looks professional and strong and balances the light yellow smiley, placed on a gray background.
In 1980 the club adopts a new symbol — a sleek stylized peacock in yellow and purple, enclosed in a circle and boasting a thick purple outline with a white wordmark around it. The typeface of the lettering got bolder and stronger and the white color added a sense of loyalty and professionalism.
Since 1984 the club uses a white Yorkshire rose as the main symbol. On the earliest badge, the Rose is placed inside a purple circle and has a white and yellow football in the middle. The serif “Leeds United AFC” lettering is written around the ball, on the rose’s petals.
In 1998 the shape of the badge changes to crest. The crest, executed in purple and yellow, has a white rose on its top part and a white vertical line with the “LUFC” cursive inscription on it.
The white nameplate divides the crest into two equal parts, each of them features a diagonal striped pattern in purple and yellow.
In 1999 the color palette of the Leeds United Logo is being switched from purple to blue and the typeface of the vertical “LUFC” wordmark is simplified, though still features an elegant and classy cursive.
In 2018 there was an attempt to adopt a new logo, but it failed. The “Leeds Salute” image in blue and white, placed inside the yellow shield with a blue outline for a very negative response among the team fans, so the club continued using its iconic “rose on shield” badge.
The tender and elegant logo of Leeds United FC has its monogram written vertically on a white banner in the middle of the crest. And its sophisticated cursive letters look like vignettes, decorating the emblem. The handwritten typeface of the LUFC inscription is unique and has no analogs. Its smooth curved and slightly pointed lines add air and beauty to the logo, making it recognizable and memorable.
The yellow and blue color palette of the Leeds United emblem represents the energy and dynamics of the football club, reflecting its reliability and professionalism, while the white accents point to the value of the club’s traditions and its loyalty to the team’s fans.
YELLOW
PANTONE: PMS 116 C
HEX COLOR: #FFCD00;
RGB(255,205,0)
CMYK: (0,14,100,0)
BLUE
PANTONE: PMS 7685 C
HEX COLOR: #1D428A;
RGB(29 66 138)
CMYK: (100 78 0 18)
100TH ANNIVERSARY GOLD
PANTONE: PMS 465 C
HEX COLOR: #AC944D;
RGB(172,148,77)
CMYK: (33,63,83,5)