It is no secret that Aston Villa F.C. has a storied franchise history. Established in 1874, Aston Villa is one of the oldest soccer clubs in the history of England. Amazingly enough, Aston Villa has played in the same venue since 1897.   

Given its history, it is no surprise that Aston Villa FC has amassed a good deal of success. They have won 7 Premier League Championships and 7 FA Cups. Aston Villa FC won the European Cup (now named UEFA Champions League Title) in 1981-1982. They would win the European Super Cup in 1982. 

Aston Villa has spent 110 seasons as a top-flight team in the Premier League. Everton is the only other club with more top-flight seasons in the Premier League. 

Aston Villa has had many great players, such as Gordan Cowans and Peter Withe. Peter With scored the game-winning goal that helped Aston Villa clinch its one and only European Cup. 

Given its history, it is no surprise that Aston Villa has a very extensive logo history. Next season, they will be getting a new primary logo. We will review the new primary logo and look at ASTON Villa’s primary logo history in this piece. 

To explore Aston Villa’s history, we would have to take a trip back to 1878. The first logo consisted of a jagged red lion that appeared to be clawing upward. It is a similar design to the lion seen in the royal crest of Scotland. The red lion contains a black square background. The logo lasted until 1886. 

Aston Villa’s second logo would exist for seven decades! The franchise transitioned to a shield logo. However, the shield is separated into four different quadrants. Two different color patterns are represented within the four quadrants. The upper left quadrant and the bottom right quadrant have a color pattern with a blue background and gold squares in a diagonal pattern. On the other hand, the upper right quadrant and the bottom left quadrant contain squares that have a red and yellow background. Zigzag patterns separate the red and yellow portions of the squares.   

The bottom of the logo contains a white banner with a black “FORWARD” wordmark.   

Aston Villa would change their logo again in 1956. They would go with a shield logo once again. However, the shield consists of a purple background. In the middle of the purple background, a golden lion that resembles the lion in Scotland’s royal crest.   A gold trim can be seen all around the shield. Like the previous logo, a banner can be seen at the bottom.   The banner contains a “PREPARED” wordmark in gold. This logo would last until 1969.

In 1969, Aston Villa abandoned the shield logo and went back to the format of its first-ever logo. They would return to a depiction of the jagged lion clawing upwards as it did in the 1st logo. The only difference is that the lion was colored blue instead of red. The blue lion was contained within a red background. The logo would last until 1973. 

In 1973, Aston Villa adopted a circular logo. The logo contains an outer and inner circle. The circle was colored black and yellow. The top half of the outer circle contains a yellow "ASTON VILLA" wordmark, while the bottom half of the wordmark contains a yellow "FC" wordmark. The inner circle is a throwback to a prior Aston Villa Logo. It contains a red lion within a purple background. This logo lasted until 1992.

A yellow outline can be seen on the outer parts of the inner and outer circles. 

In 1992, Aston Villa would return to a shield logo with a banner at the bottom. The top of the logo contains a yellow "ASTON VILLA F.C. wordmark on a dark background. The shield contains a yellow lion with three brown stripes contained within a dark blue background.

The logo ended with a banner that had a yellow "PREPARED" wordmark. A yellow trim could be seen across the entire logo. That logo ended in 2000.

In 2000, Aston Villa stuck with the shield logo and made subtle adjustments. The font was changed to a classic-style font. The top of the logo contained an "ASTON VILLA." There was no "F.C" wordmark. 

While the shield contained a yellow lion, the lion was altered to where he stood straight up instead of being depicted at an angle. The eyes of the lion look way more menacing as well. While the shield contained three brown stripes, but the background was light blue. The logo contained a yellow "PREPARED" wordmark, yet the word was within the shield itself instead of its separate banner. That logo lasted until 2007. 

Aston Villa FC Primary Logo 2007 - 2016[/caption]In 2007, the logo was switched to an emblem. The emblem has a light blue background. A yellow lion can be seen in this logo. However, the lion is at a slight angle.  The logo also contains a white star. 

The white star was there to commemorate Aston Villa's 1982 European Cup triumph over Bayern Munich. The top of the emblem contains an "AVFC" wordmark as an acronym for Aston Villa Football Club.

Just like in some prior logos, the bottom of the emblem logo contains the word "PREPARED." A black outline can be seen throughout the logo. This logo lasted until 2016.

In 2016, Aston Villa kept most of the previous logo but made some adjustments. The word "PREPARED" was moved from the bottom of the emblem. By removing the word "PREPARED," it allowed the yellow lion contained within the emblem to become more significant and more prominent. 

In 2024, the Aston Villa FC will operate with a new primary logo. The new logo will be circular. This will be the 1st circular logo that the franchise has had since 1973. In a similar fashion to that logo, the circular logo contains an inner circle and an outer circle.

The top of the outer circle contains a yellow "ASTON VILLA" wordmark. The bottom half of the circle contains a yellow wordmark that commemorates the franchise's year of incorporation, "1874."

The inner circle contains a black lion that's standing at an angle. It is contained within a light blue background.  The outer trim of the outer circle is light blue.

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