One of the most popular professional basketball teams in the US, Miami Heat was created in 1988. Its logo can be described as a “fiery” basketball going through a black hoop. Although the logotype has been given a facelift in 1999, it basically retained its initial shape and idea.
Miami Heat is the basketball club, whose visual identity history is probably one of the most modest and short. Its original logo was created in 1988, and slightly refined just once, in 1999, keeping all but the color palette from the previous versions
What is Miami Heat?
Miami Heat is the name of a professional basketball club from the United States, which was established in 1988, and today is one of the teams of the National Basketball Association. The home stadium of the club is FTX Arena in Miami, and the head coach is Erik Spoelstra.
The original Miami Heat logo, introduced in 1988, featured a flame-stylized gradient orange basketball with a black ring above it and a fancy bold nameplate under the image. The lettering was executed in a modern geometric sans-serif with thick lines and italicized contours of the letters, and the horizontal bar of the “T” elongated up and drawn as a flame. Another unique detail about the typeface was in the triangular cut of both “A”s bars, which added sharpness and style to the whole image.
The most distinctive character in the Miami Heat wordmark is the last one, “T”. There is a shape above the horizontal bar, which supposedly symbolizes a flame. Taking into consideration the visual context, this explanation seems absolutely logical. The letter “A” in this custom-made bold and italicized all-cap typeface is also unique and recognizable. All the other characters can be described as minimalistic and simple.
The previous color palette featured several shades of orange, accentuated by black. The color choice seemed perfectly natural, taking into consideration the whole flame idea behind the badge. The scheme used in the current version of the Miami Heat logo (red, orange, black, and white) seems more straightforward, yet it has the same symbolic meaning and includes all the team’s official colors.
RED
PANTONE: PMS 202 C
HEX COLOR: #98002E;
RGB: (152, 0, 46)
CMYK: (0, 100, 61, 43)
YELLOW
PANTONE: PMS 137 C
HEX COLOR: #F9A01B;
RGB: (249, 160, 27)
CMYK: (0, 43, 100, 0)
BLACK
PANTONE: PMS PROCESS BLACK C
HEX COLOR: #000000;
RGB: (6, 25, 34)
CMYK: (30, 0, 0, 100)
What is the Miami Heat logo?
The logo of the American professional basketball club from Florida, Miami Heat, depicts a dark red basketball, with the Ali gates silhouette, finishing with orange flames. The ball is flying through the ring, scoring a goal. This burning ball is one of the most recognizable basketball insignias in the world, and the current version was just a refinement of the original idea, created for the club in 1988.
How did Miami Heat get their name?
Like many other professional sport clubs in the United States, Miami Heat got its name through a competition, held among the fans of the club. This was the winning variant, which brilliantly reflects not only the geographical location of the club (Miami, Florida) but also the spirit and determination of its players.
When did the Miami Heat change their logo?
The logo of the Miami Heat basketball club was changed just once in the club’s history — in 1999, eleven years after the original version of the badge has been created. The new version of the logo keeps the initial idea of the design but represents it in a more powerful and modern style, with brighter and deeper colors and cleaner contours.
What is the Heat mascot supposed to be?
The mascot of the Miami Heat club is an orange fireball named Burnie. This funny and kind creature wears the club’s uniform in black and white, and has a large green basketball replacing its nose: the most recognizable part of Burnie is its long orange fur, which represents flames and heat.