Originally known as the Titans of New York, The Jets are now home to a franchise committed to the rebuild and reclaiming its dominance in the NFL. Over the years, the primary logos have not changed much, but they have adjusted to the times throughout its history. Knowing how the logos have changed will give you a better picture of the team’s history and important parts of the timeline.
Although the changes have been subtle, they are absolutely worth noting to get a good grasp on the organization’s history.
The Titans of New York Primary Logo 1960 - 1962
As we already stated, the Jets used to be the Titans of New York. This was a drastically different logo with navy blue and gold coloring. It featured a running football player with the script right next to it. This was the only logo in the team’s history to not feature some shade of green. This makes sense because the Jets have been the Jets ever since.
Although this name and logo only lasted two years, it is still an important part of the team’s history. If you ever hear of the Titans that are not from Tennessee just know it was this franchise.
New York Jets Primary Logo 1963
Right after, in 1963, the New York Jets monicor was born. They nailed home the franchise change by making the primary logo quite literally a jet. This is also the first time that the green color was imputed into the brand.
The airplane was solid green with white “Jets” inside of the body. Ironically enough, the one year that this logo was in place would be the first and only time the primary logo was made of an actual jet.
There were a lot of changes early on to the primary logo, but they were all very subtle. In 1964, there was a fairly significant change as we saw the oval, football-like shape for the first time. This would end up being timeless for the organization and still continues to this day. The main differences came in the colors and what is within the football shape.
The first football shape design featured a thin green outline filled with white. The NY Jets script was green and contrasted nicely against the white. In 1967, we saw the first variation that best resembles the current primary logo.
This design took the previous and inverted the colors to the opposite. This would be the green background with a white script and accent. Although it only lasted two years, this is what the main logo is based on.
New York Jets Primary Logo 1967 - 1977
In the meantime, there were some subtle changes and really only one major change between 1967 and now. This primary logo change took place in 1978 and lasted nearly 20 years. For the first time since 1964, the franchise ditched the football shape and opted for an updated design.
This build is also the closest the logo has come to be an actual jet, although it is very subtle. The font changed and the bold background was completely dropped. The 1978-1997 logo featured a blog “Jets’ script in green with a small jet wing over the “ETS.” This was a very clean design that kept it simple and did not have as much noise as the previous one. Of all the logos, this had the second-longest reign, so a lot of the hardcore fans will see the Jets with this logo.
New York Jets Primary Logo 1998 - 2018
In 1998, the change was significant as the Jets rebranded that iconic football style logo to fit the modern organization. The changes were incredibly small, but they were big compared to what they were rocking the year before.
This logo was basically the same as the 1977 design with a darker green and a slightly crisper look. This ended up being the longest-lasting logo in the team’s history.
Although the Jets have rocked the same green nearly since the inception of the team, 2018, and the start of 2019, brought a slightly different colorway to the brand. The new green is known as Gotham green which is slightly different from shades in the past.
New York Jets Primary Logo 2019 - Present
The biggest change with the current logo is the dropping of “NY” in the background and New York being much stronger. Although actually playing in New Jersey, the Jets still identify with New York and have a fan base that spans much of that area.
They have also updated the inner football. Although the whole logo comes in a football-esque shape, there is also a football within the logo itself.
Shortly after altering the logo just a touch to fit modern times, the organization announced some uniform changes as well. This altered the color scheme slightly to fit well with the logo itself. This change was also a statement to a rebirth of the team as they are attempting to get back into a winning culture.
“We’ve got the young quarterback, we’ve got the new coach, the theme of this team is ‘Take Flight.’” CEO Christopher Johnson said in a statement. “We’re ready to enter a new era. I think that this new uniform symbolizes that.”
Although a logo and a uniform scheme are not nearly the same things, they are closely related. The slight rebranding of the team is coming at a good time in the grand scheme of things. The Jets have not had a winning record since 2015, and it was 2010 before that. After rocking a 2-14 record in the 2020 season, the Jets have made off-season moves to try and get the organization back on the rails.
With the recent logo change and even more recent jersey alteration, the New York Jets are attempting to form their own future and reclaim the “Titans of New York” monicor in a different way.
So, the 2021 season will feature the updated logo on the new and improved jerseys with some new names and fresh faces.
See the New York Jets logo history and team history.
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