The Manchester United football club has had four emblems so far. The earliest Manchester United logo was officially unveiled at the 1963 FA Cup Final. The emblem based on the coat of arms of the Manchester City Council made its first appearance on the shirts of the team members.
Meaning and history
Shortly after, a new badge was developed. The shield and ship remained on the logo, while the Antelope and the Lion disappeared. Also, the emblem featured “Manchester United” and “Footbal Club” inscriptions. The logo was in use throughout the 1960s.
1878
The club’s original name, Newton Heath LYR Football Club, was reflected in its earliest logo. Also, the shield, which was dominated by yellow and green, featured a train.
1902
When the club received its current name in 1902, a different emblem was introduced. It was pretty detailed and looked more like a medieval crest than an athletic logo.
1909
The shield introduced in 1909 did not have anything sporty about it either. The rose embroidered on a white patch looked stylish and elegant, though.
1958-1968
We should also mention the chevrons introduced in 1959, 1963, and 1968. All of them were rather intricate and featured the word “Wembley.”
The 1960s
This was a corporate Manchester United logo – it was not used on kits. At the center, there was a shield featuring a ship over a white stripe and a red field. The lines “Manchester United” and “Football Club” were placed above and below the shield respectively.
1973
While the structure of this emblem is pretty similar to that of the previous one, there are also several notable differences. A devil appeared below the ship. The type was modified, as was the palette.
1978
The shield corporate logo of the 1960s was placed over the white and black stripes pattern. The colors and shape of the Manchester United logo were slightly modified.
1993
The devil logo made a comeback in a slightly different palette. This time, the colors looked by far brighter.
1998
The design team played with the shades and inverted the color of the ship and the background. Also, only two words were left: “Manchester United,” while the lettering “Football club” disappeared.
Symbol 1970s-1990
The famous red devil appeared on the symbol in the 1970s, replacing the three yellow stripes. By that time, the team had been known under the “Red Devils” nickname for several years. It had been given to the team by Matt Busby. Some sources mention that he didn’t invent the “Red devils” nickname on his own, but took it from the Salford City Reds rugby league team.
Emblem 1990-present
Over the last three decades the Manchester United logo has been almost the same. One of the very few notable changes was the removal of the words “Football Club” in 1998. Instead of them, the word “United” moved to the bottom banner from the top one. Due to this change, the wordmark became more clear and legible.
Font
The Manchester United logo features a simple san-serif font.
Color
Starting from the 1960s, the official color scheme of the emblem has stayed the same. It comprises two basic colors (red and yellow) and two auxiliary ones (black and white).
