Patriots Primary Logo
The New England Patriots have existed as a franchise since 1960. Originally, they started off as an AFL team and were called the Boston Patriots. The Patriots' name was decided upon by a business executive named Billy Sullivan after he sought feedback from local residents. The franchise was in the AFL for 10 years before becoming an NFL team in 1970 due to the NFL-AFL merger.
It is very safe to say that the franchise is one of the most successful franchises in NFL history. In many ways, they have been the team of the millennium. The New England Patriots won the AFC East 10 years in a row (2009-2019). They’ve won 11 conference championships and are tied for the most Super Bowl victories in NFL history with 6.
Tom Brady, Rob Gronskowski, Richard Seymour, and Tony Bruschi are some of the legendary players that have played for this franchise. Of course, the success of this franchise cannot be synonymous without the influence of coach Bill Belichick.
Given the success and prestige of the New England Patriots, it is only suitable that we have a logo history page in which Patriots fans can come and feel more connected to their brand.
Many may be surprised that the first logo in franchise history is a tri-corner blue hat. One year later, the Patriots switched their logo to a minuteman by the name of Pat Patriot. As you’ll see, there are quite a few logo changes before the franchise adopted its first version of the current Patriots logo in the early 90s. Given the franchise’s recent success, it is no wonder that its current logo has had three decades of staying power.
2000 - Present
The New England Patriots unveiled a new logo in 2000 which depicts a silver patriot with a red and navy blue striped hat. The 2000 logo is a mirror image of the one designed in 1993, though a few changes have been made, the deepening of the blue shade.
1993 - 1999
In 1993, a new logo was unveiled involving the gray face of a minuteman wearing a red, white and blue hat that begins as a tricorner and transitions into a flowing banner-like design. It became popularly known as the “Flying Elvis.”
1989 - 1992
Patriot Pat in revolution-era outfit hiking a brown football. This logo removed the skin color and made white.
1978
Unused Logo
Three red stripes and a patriot head wearing a hat with a white star in the upper right corner. Has an American flag look to it.
1978
Unused Logo
6 blue stars over a patriot head wearing a tri-corner hat in blue.
1972 - 1988
The 1971 logo for the Patriots made very small changes to the color of the logo. The patriot stayed the same, however the skin is now a more realistic skin color.
1961 - 1971
From 1961 – 1992, the Patriots used a logo of a Revolutionary War minuteman hiking a football. “Pat Patriot,” the cartoon of a Minuteman preparing to snap a football drawn by the Boston Globe’s Phil Bissell, was chosen as the team’s logo.
The Story Behind Patriot Pat from the Cartoonist Who Created Him
In 1960, Boston Globe cartoonist Phil Bissell, working for $25 a day, was handed an assignment that would change his life—and the lives of fans of the brand-new AFL football team coming to Boston. “Sports editor Jerry Nason came to me and he said, ‘They’ve decided to call the team the Boston Patriots. You better have a cartoon ready for tomorrow’s edition.’ I sat down, I drew that cartoon original of Pat in about 45 minutes,” Bissell said. “I thought about it for about two minutes and went to work. I had to get the day’s work out.” Read More...
1960
For their first season, the newly christened Patriots took to the field with a tri-corner blue hat for it’s logo.