The nickname “Wildcats” was given to the club in 1909, after a football road victory over Illinois. The earliest truly memorable Kentucky logo appeared in 1973. The emblem, which looked really aggressive, depicted a wild cat with an open mouth. The outline of the Kentucky state was placed at the background.

For today, the Wildcats primary logo is a combination of two interlacing letters, “U” and “K.” First used in 1997 as an alternative logo and moved then to the primary logo. In 2016 there was a shift in the color scheme as well as a modification of the shape of the two letters "UK."