Grizzlies Primary Logo
The Memphis Grizzlies have been a part of the National Basketball Association since 2001. The team has had several different logos over its history, each one unique and reflective of the city’s culture.
The first logo was unveiled when the team moved to Memphis in 2001, featuring two bears facing off with basketballs in their hands. This logo was simple yet powerful and symbolized both strength and athleticism which were key components for any successful NBA franchise. It also served as an homage to Grizzlies' home city by incorporating elements from Tennessee's state flag into its design—the stars representing three grand divisions of Tennessee while blue stripes represented rivers throughout the state that flow into the Mississippi River near downtown Memphis.
In 2004, after a few years under this original design, it underwent an update which included adding more color to create a bolder look for their brand identity; red replaced navy blue on either side of the bear head silhouette while yellow accents were added around eyes & mouth area giving it more depth & texture than before. Additionally, there are now five stars above bear head instead three seen in earlier versions - these represent five boroughs within Shelby County where Memphians reside today! Finally “Memphis” is written across the bottom portion completing the transformation from the previous iteration: the overall effect being a much brighter image that better reflects the energy and passion fans bring every game night at FedExForum arena!
2018 - Present
Slight adjustments made to previous Grizzlies’ primary logo, which include removal of lightest of their three blues at the snout, addition of grey outline, and new wordmark font “MEMPHIS” and “GRIZZLIES” in blue.
2005 - 2018
The current logo was adopted in 2004 and features a more benign looking grizzlies bear’s head accented in three different shades of blue and with yellow eyes. A wordmark “MEMPHIS” in a two tone blue color and a wordmark “GRIZZLIES” in light blue on the bottom. Though not the snarling grizzlies bear as on the original logo, the new bear logo still reflects a level of focus and intensity.
2002 - 2004
When the Grizzlies moved to Memphis, they used the same logo from Vancouver and replaced the city wordmark with “MEMPHIS” in red.
1996 - 2001
The original Grizzlies logo featured a grizzlie bear holding basketball with teeth and claws out. A wordmark “VANCOUVER” in red above the wordmark “GRIZZLIES” in teal on top of the grizzlie. The letters “G” and “S” are larger than the other letters in the wordmark “Grizzlies.”
