While the Sunshine State Conference has gone through four totally different logotypes since it was founded in 1975, all the logos have featured the sun, in one form or another. This is an allusion to the name of the conference and the place where it is held (Florida is known as the Sunshine State).
The Sunshine State Conference, a beacon of athletic excellence, was founded in 1975, rooted in the sports-loving soil of Florida, USA. This conference, initiated by the visionaries at Saint Leo University, Eckerd College, Florida Technological University, and Rollins College, has grown into a powerhouse of collegiate athletics. Over the years, the Sunshine State Conference has amassed an impressive roster of achievements, including numerous national championships across various sports, highlighting its commitment to fostering athletic prowess and academic integrity. Today, the conference stands as a prominent figure in Division II of the NCAA, continually striving for excellence both on and off the field, cementing its legacy as a bastion of sportsmanship and academic dedication.
What is Sunshine State Conference?
Sunshine State Conference is an intercollegiate athletic organization; affiliated with the second division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The conference was established in 1975 and today consists of eleven college members, fielding 18 sports disciplines, where men’s and women’s teams compete for titles.
The original logo for the Sunshine State Conference was designed in 1975 and featured a clean and light composition with a gray contour of the Florida State, overlapping a solid orange sun in the background. The graphical part was accompanied by a bold uppercase logotype in a massive rounded sans-serif typeface, with the letters drawn in the same shade of gray, as the contours of Florida. The badge stayed with the Conference for a decade.
On the current Sunshine State Conference logo, the sun does not dominate the design. It is depicted as a white semi-circle surrounded by the orange light. The sun can be seen between a palm tree and the sea.
The emblem (2005) featured the sun in the form of a small orange splash with sharp edges. It was placed above the map of Florida. On the two earlier emblems, it was even more prominent.
The iconic Florida State logo was completely redesigned in 2017. The new modern badge features a crest shape and a bold blue, yellow and white color palette; with the white palm tree image set on a blue and yellow background and accompanied by a white banner with the blue uppercase logotype on top of the shield. The “Sunshine State” in large blue caps was underlined by a white “Conference” in the smaller size, set over a blue background right above the stylized tropical landscape image.