What are the most iconic football badges and logos of all time?

Not only is football known as the beautiful game but it’s the most watched sport around the globe too. Some love it for the physicality and speed, some love it for the tactics and technique whilst some just love it for the atmosphere, buzz and sheer passion.

Even if you rather watch NBA or you prefer to pay attention to the latest NFL odds, you will still find some of the following badges recognizable. The badges teams wear on their shirts often encompass at least one of those things with others referencing all of them. Here we look at the most iconic football badges of all time.

Number 5. Manchester United, England 

Clubs don’t really come bigger than the Red Devils and it’s that nickname personified that sits centrally on their famed badge. The curved top and bottom display their name whilst the ship that sits above the Devil and trident is taken from the city coat of arms and, up until the Seventies, was the dominant feature of the United logo. I’m sure you’ll agree that United made a smart move to bring the fallen angel that is Lucifer into their design.


Number 4. AS Roma, Italy

On first glance the badge worn on Roma’s kit looks reasonably straightforward. A two tone, orange and red shield, the team name and founding year and an animal to give it some personality. Look again though and you’ll find two human babies feeding on the aforementioned animal, which happens to be a wolf.

It sounds insane but it hasn’t just been dreamt up for the club badge. No, it actually refers to a myth retold countless times about the formation of the city of Rome. And yet, even though there is nothing wrong, the logo is actually censored in some countries. Still, you won’t forget it though and that means kudos to the designer.

Roma logo

Number 3. Boca Juniors, Argentina

You’ll regularly see rivals’ clubs poking fun at one another about who is the best or who has the best history. Boca can’t be doing with that. Originally, their badge donned their name across it but when the decision was made to include stars on the actual crest for their titles something unusual became apparent.
There were too many stars. Nowadays the badge boldly and classily bears four gold letters – CABJ – on a blue background. Well, we say blue but 52 gold stars make it pretty tough to differentiate.

Number 2. Kashima Antlers, Japan

There is very little story behind the design of the Kashima Antlers badge but on pure design aspect it fully deserves its place in our top five. The bold black deer head, antlers and name overlap a vertically split pastel duo of red and beige to great effect and there is no doubt about what emblem you’re looking at.

Simple but effective. Very effective.

Number 1. Kaizer Chiefs, South Africa

There is a geographical minefield associated with the Kaizer Chiefs. Firstly, the club play in South Africa but have a Native Americans slap bang in the middle of their crest and, just for an additional fact, they have a British band named in their honour.

Back to the badge though and there is method behind the madness. The founder – and now director – was Kaizer Motaung hence the ‘Kaizer’ part of the name. The second element was taken from one of his former teams, the Atlanta Chiefs who played in the North American Soccer League. The result was one of the most iconic football badges you’ll ever see.

There you have it, five of the best football badges of all time. Finally, apologies to three teams – Vasco de Gama, Valencia and Colo Colo – in particular who were agonisingly close to being top five picks but narrowly missed out.

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