The Summit League is a Division I college athletic conference that has existed since 1982. The league currently consists of nine member schools in the Midwestern United States, and it sponsors 19 sports—including men’s and women’s basketball, soccer, volleyball, and golf. While many fans are familiar with the current logo for The Summit League (which features a blue circle with an “S” inside), not as many know about its history or how it came to be.

In 1992, when the league was known as the Mid-Continent Conference (MCC), they adopted their first official logo: two overlapping stars representing each of their eight founding members at that time – Valparaiso University, Western Illinois University; Southern Utah State College; Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW); Oakland City College; Oral Roberts University; Southwest Missouri State; and Northern Iowa. This symbol was used until 1997, when MCC changed its name to The Great Midwest Athletic Conference(GMAC). At this point, they switched up their look by introducing an updated version of what we now recognize today: A single star surrounded by five smaller stars, which represented each school in GMAC at that time, plus one additional star for all other member schools who joined later on.

Fast forward six years to 2003, when GMAC became known as The Summit League after adding three new universities into membership—University North Dakota, South Dakota State, and Nebraska Omaha. To reflect these additions while maintaining consistency from previous logos, designers chose to keep most elements intact. Still, they added four more small stars surrounding existing ones —one for each new university joining them! As you can see below, this design stuck around until 2011 when yet another update was made–this time resulting in what we now know today: A blue circle containing white lettering spelling out "The Summit" along with five small white stars inside representing all 14 teams within conference boundaries then & now!

Today's primary logo may have evolved over the last two decades. Still, core elements remain the same - including those original 8 founding members whose legacy lives on through iconic imagery found throughout any sporting event hosted under the banner 'The Summit.' So next time you're cheering your favorite team, show appreciation not only to the players & coaches involved but also to those behind the scenes who helped create such powerful symbols our athletes proudly wear daily!