The Best Logos in Sports

“A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition.” The sports world has a rich tradition of producing some memorable logos. Here are some of the most amazing — or at least, our favorites:

12. Fort Wayne Mad Ants (NBA D League). Well-designed logo. Also, you gotta like the tag line, “Join the Invasion.” Bonus points for name originality. How many Mad Ants teams do you know?

11. Washington Freedom (Women’s Professional Soccer). The logo communicates “Washington” and “soccer” very quickly. Good use of soccer ball.

10. Miami RedHawks (College). Nothing too clever here, but a very strong logo suggesting that you don’t want to mess with the RedHawks.

9. Detroit Red Wings (NHL). A classic. Simple and yet evocative. Based on the logo of a Canadian team, the Montreal HC, nicknamed the “Winged Wheelers.”

8. Temple Owls (College). A right-in-your-face logo. Fierce.

7. The Big Ten Conference Logo (College). You’ve just added an 11th team (Penn State) to a 10 team conference and you still want to keep the “Big Ten” name. What do you do? You find a creative way to work in the number “11.” Well played.

6. New England Revolution (Major League Soccer). Stylish way to weave the soccer ball into the U.S. flag.

5. Green Bay Packers (NFL). First and only helmet logo in team’s history. It was designed for Lombardi by the team equipment manager Dad Braisher.

4. Milwaukee Brewers (Major League Baseball). The “M” for Milwaukee and the “b” for Brewers make up the design of the baseball glove. Clever.

3. Manchester United (Football — English Premiere League). The logo is derived from the coat of arms of the city of Manchester. Nicknamed “The Red Devils,” a red devil is displayed prominently on the crest.

2. Army Black Knight (College). Intimidating.

1. Hartford Whalers (National Hockey League). Designed by Peter Good. The blue whale’s tail and green “W” create the “H” in negative space (white) representing Hartford.

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What do you think? Did we miss any of the best logos in sports?  What are your favorites?