Nottingham Forest FC Primary Logo
The first club crest used by Forest was the city arms of Nottingham, which was first used on kits in 1947. The current club badge was introduced in 1974. The logo has been reported as being the brainchild of manager Brian Clough. However, he did not arrive at the club until the following year. Forest has two stars above the club badge to commemorate their European Cup victories in 1979 and 1980. In March 1973, a competition was announced to design a new badge for Forest. The winning design was by Trent Polytechnic graphic design lecturer David Lewis. Lewis entered his design using his mother's maiden name in order to maintain anonymity, as one of the five judges was W. Payne, Associate Head of the Graphics Department at the polytechnic where Lewis taught. David Lewis also designed the Nottinghamshire County Council logo.
2010 - Present
A red Sherwood tree emerges from wavy lines, representing the river Trent with a wordmark “FOREST” in red.
Forest has two stars above the club badge to commemorate the European Cup victories in 1979 and 1980.
2008 - 2010
Commemorative features were added for NFFC’s 30th anniversary of winning back-to-back European Cups. A gold badge was one of the few things Fawaz Al-Hasawi managed to come up with to celebrate 150 years of the club.
2000 - 2008
A red Sherwood tree emerges from wavy lines, representing the river Trent with a wordmark “FOREST” in red.
A new shade of red.
1974 - 2000
Forest consulted Trent Polytechnic’s Graphics Dept and the Nottingham Evening Post, leading to a competition to design the best badge. One of Trent’s designers, David Lewis, won £25.
Lewis adapted his design into the iconic one Forest has used since. He stylized the tree shape by depicting a specific tree species, making it “weighty,” not “spindly.”
1946 - 1974
Nottingham Forest adapted the City of Nottingham coat of arms, the only variation being that the letters NFFC replaced the “castle” in the original design.