Orleans is known for two things: jazz and football. Anyone who loves American football probably knows one of the most legendary teams, the New Orleans Saints.
Being completely "green as grass" in the 80s and unable to afford a luxurious life, the team achieved unprecedented success after the arrival of Tom Benson, a successful automobile dealership owner. Today, maintaining a solid status, the team can afford expensive houses and luxury cars, travel to expensive places like Dubai, rent a car from Sharjah airport upon arrival with a driver, or use superior car rental without looking at the budget.
But back to basics. With a history spanning over five decades, the team has become a symbol of New Orleans and part of its exclusive culture. Today we are going to talk about the Saints' iconic team logo, which, over the years, has undergone several changes. Here, we will look at the history of the team's logo, how it has changed from its inception, and its value in the club's history.
Let's start with the origins
The original logo was created in 1967 by the local artist Milt Joffre. A plain black fleur-de-lis, French ‘lily flower,’ was chosen to represent the city's French heritage. The design was picked because it was easy to reproduce and recognize. In this way, it was later used for the first 20 years of the team's presence. The team added a black contour to the fleur-de-lis in 1980 to make it stand out better on white helmets. Later, in 1996, the team modified its colors from black and gold to black and gold and white. As a result, the original logo was renewed, adding a white outline around the fleur-de-lis to match the new color scheme.
New century, new design
In early 2000 the Saints underwent a significant rebranding, which included a new logo and uniform. The new logo represented a more styled fleur-de-lis, tilted at an angle with more curves than the original design. The new logo also included a black and gold color scheme with a touch of silver, symbolizing the river Mississippi.
A few more years later, a new logo was designed to give the team a more modern touch and to draw fans' attention away from the defeats in the past. Fortunately, it was well-accepted by the fans and did nothing but help rekindle excitement for the team. In 2006 the Saints had their most successful season, reaching the championship game. Moreover, the team's success continued in 2009 when they won their first Super Bowl title. In 2016, however, another little branding change was made. A black frame appeared around the fleur-de-lis to improve visibility on TV coverage.
The New Orleans Saints logo is among the most recognizable in sports today. So now, whenever you watch a football game, pay attention to the game, design, and logo, as it can sometimes tell a lot about the team.
Sports Logo History is a community of sports logo enthusiast who enjoys the history of each team’s logo history. Sports Logo History has primary logos, alternate logos, or wordmark logos from the NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, NHL, Premier League, WNBA, CFL, NCAA, ABA, USFL, AAF, and XFL.
One of our partner sites Sports Team History takes a look at the history of each and every professional sports team. In addition, we have added Sports News History to our sports history websites. 24/7 non-stop sports news that's worth knowing. Finally, the premier sports team marketplace for your favorite team or college with thousands of items for you to peruse at Sports Market History.