Hidden Meanings

One thing that I love about sports logos is that they aren't always exactly what they seem. Sure, at first you may see one object, but if you look closer, you could find a hidden image in the logo. Though many don't realize it, some use negative space to their advantage, while others use arrangement to give their logos dual meaning. Even some of the more straightforward looking logos may have hidden meanings.


MLB
Arizona Diamondbacks- The alternate logos of the Diamondbacks both use clever arrangement to give their logos double meaning.


The first logo is a coiled up snake. However, the fashion in which the snake is coiled also forms the letter D.


The second logo is the lower case letters D and B arranged next to one another, representing the team name. The two letters are lowercase and actually form an overview head of a snake, with the holes in the letters acting as the snake's eyes.




Milwaukee Brewers- The Brewers from 1978-1993 is the image of a baseball glove catching a baseball. Of course, looking closer, the fingers of the glove create an M, while the base of the hand form a B.


Montreal Expos- This defunct team had one of the more interesting logos with numerous meanings. First, it was a lowercase M. Second, the M is made up of a red-white-blue split color scheme, which is a reverse of the french flag, a shout out to the french community of the city of Montreal. The third is the letters e,d, and b (the d is the white part and the e combined). These letters stand as the abbreviation Expos de Montreal Baseball (the large M is included).




NFL
Atlanta Falcons- This is one of my favorite logos ever. It is a plus that the falcon actually also is a stylized F, with the arms helping to create the letter.


Philadelphia Eagles- SUPPOSEDLY the Eagles logo faces the left (all other motion logos face right) because the three back feathers create an E... Personally, I don't know if I buy this one.




NBA
Washington Bullets- Another defunct team, the Bullets logo features two hands at the top of the Ls in bullets going after the ball, representing the opening tip off of a basketball game.


NHL
Minnesota Wild- At first glance, the Wild logo looks like a bear colored red, yellow, and green. However, those colors make up a wildlife scene with trees, the moon, a shooting star (where the eye is), and a river (where the mouth is).


Dallas Stars- The top point of the Stars logo also doubles as the A in the word Stars.


New York Islanders- First, the hockey stick on the Islanders logo combines with the N to make NY. Also, the top tip of the I overlaps the image of Long Island. The part that overlaps actually marks the location of the team's home stadium. Finally, the four tape stripes on the stick represent the four Stanley Cups the team has won.


Vancouver Canucks- The Canucks logo is both an Orca whale leaping from icy water as well as the letter C.


Winnipeg Jets (New)- When the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg and retook the name Jets, the team created this logo. First, the Jet makes up part of the maple leaf behind it. The second hidden message is the notch at the top of the roundel. This notch is a shout out to the teams ownership group, True North.


Washington Capitals- First, the hockey stick in the Capitals primary logo is also the T in the wordmark. The team's secondary logo is an eagle, but the bottom of the eagle is split at the bottom, creating a negative space image of the US Capitol Building AND the Washington Monument (the triangular shape where the white starts).


Hartford Whalers- This defunct team had a logo that clearly looked like a W with a whale's tail above it. However, the negative space between these creates the letter H as well.


Quebec Nordiques- The Nordiques, another defunct team, had a logo that represented a lowercase N, a hockey stick/puck combo, and finally an igloo if the previous two elements are combined.




NCAA


BIG 10- The past two Big Ten logos have both featured clever use of negative space. The previous logo (when the conference had 11 teams) has and 11 hidden in the negative space under the T. In the current logo, the letters I and G in BIG form the number 10.


Washington State- At first glance, this is simply a Wildcat logo. However, a closer look reveals that the Wildcat is made up of three distinct sections... The sections also happen to be the letters, WSU, the abbreviation for the school.


Eastern Washington University- Ok, this one is very obvious, as the wings make up the letters EWU... The contrasting color really brings out the letters.




As you can clearly see, logos hiding secret meanings are very common in athletic logos. What is more astounding is that I am positive I didn't list nearly all the logos that utilize this technique. So the next time you watch your team play, be on the lookout for these hidden meanings.