Dolphins Primary Logo
The Miami Dolphins' primary logo has gone through a few changes over the years. The original logo was designed in 1966 when the team first joined the NFL, and it featured an orange sunburst with a dolphin leaping out of it. This design was used until 1973 when they adopted their current logo which features an aqua-blue circle with two white dolphins facing each other inside of it. The team also added a “Miami Dolphins” wordmark to go along with this new look in 1974.
Since then, there have been some slight modifications made to the primary logo but nothing major enough that would make people think twice about what team they are looking at if they saw it on television or merchandise somewhere else around town. For example, in the 1997-1998 season, they changed up one of their colors from navy blue to teal green; however, this was only done for that year and reverted back soon after as part of their 25th-anniversary celebration honoring former players who had played for them during those years since joining the league initially back in 1966 before its debut game against Oakland Raiders on September 2nd, 1968 where Miami won 27-21 giving birth to franchise's success story throughout decades later.
Overall though, despite all these minor tweaks throughout the time period mentioned above - most notably being the addition/subtraction of certain elements like adding/removing the "M" lettering within the main emblem itself (which happened recently) – the overall concept behind the official artwork still remains the same: two dolphins circling each other while representing power & gracefulness associated with aquatic mammals themselves thus making the perfect match between mascot name & image displayed upon various items such as jerseys or hats purchased by fans worldwide... Altogether create a timeless classic masterpiece known simply as the “Miami Dolphins Primary Logo!”
2018 - Present
An aqua and marine-blue dolphin swimming in front of a coral sunburst, shade of coral orange was adjusted for the 2017 season.
2013 - 2017
The new logo features a stylized teal dolphin swimming in front of a heavily modified version of the orange sunburst. The dolphin in the logo is more vague and artistic, and is not wearing a helmet as it is merely a silhouette of a dolphin cast in aqua and navy. The dolphin’s new horizontal postures reflects the team’s desire for “the dolphin to be in a more powerful and ascending position.”
1997 - 2012
The most substantial revisions took place in 1997. Navy was introduced as a trim color. The logo was reworked to make the dolphin appear proportionally larger and more three-dimensional in effect. The hashmarks around the perimeters of the logo’s sunburst were removed.
1989 - 1996
In 1989 the logo changed to have aqua and orange colors darkened and the helmet made bolder. The dolphin has some slight modifications.
1974 - 1989
By 1974, the dolphin’s body was centered on the sunburst. The logo is a sunburst with a leaping dolphin wearing a football helmet bearing the letter “M.”
1966 - 1973
The original logo consisted of a sunburst with a leaping dolphin wearing a football helmet bearing the letter “M”. At their debut in 1966, the dolphin’s head was near the center of the sunburst.