The bird seen on the current West Bromwich Albion FC crest is a throstle (song thrush). The idea to use it on the emblem was suggested in the 1880s by the club secretary Tom Smith. The throstle hasn’t always looked the same, though. On the 1969 emblem, for instance, the bird was brown and looked pretty realistic, while the following logo, which was adopted in 1972, featured a stylized bird, just a yellow outline on the green background.
2011 - Present
The current West Bromwich Albion logo sports the throstle bird inside a shield shape with a different shade of blue and white stripes. The bird is standing on a twig with green leaves and red berries. Wordmark on top “WEST BROMWICH ALBION” in blue.
2006 - 2011
In 2006, West Bromwich Albion redesigned the team’s crest. A wordmark “WEST BROMWICH ALBION” is the first appearance on the logo. Green leaves and red berries replace a branch of hawthorn. The bird looks more realistic due to modern graphics and accurate color reproduction on the white and blue shield.
2001 - 2006
Another version of the striped shield. Adding a light blue border surrounds the shield and the striped blue has now changed to a lighter blue. The thrush is white, with blue contours on a brown branch. The leaves and berries stay the same in green and red.
2000 - 2001
The striped emblem with the blue and white shield and the thrush returned from the ’70s. The white and black thrush bird sits on the hawthorn branch again with the leaves and berries in green and red.
1994 - 2000
In the late 1990s, football players’ uniform was decorated with the coat of arms of the West Bromwich County Council. It depicts deer on a blue shield, a knight’s helmet above the shield, feathers, and a white banner with the motto “LABOR OMNIA VINCIT” which means “Labor conquers everything.”
1986 - 1994
A redesign of the emblem from 1969, changing the color scheme and adding initials. The leaves turned dark green. Blackbirds and branches are black, with white highlights. Below are the initials “W.B.A.” in black.
1975 - 1986
In 1975, a simplified logo was introduced, consisting of the initials of the team. Blue initials “WBA” embroidered on a white background. Font imitates calligraphic handwriting.
1973
New design in 1973, designers placed the brown thrush and brown branch inside a heraldic shield. Vertical stripes adorn the background with three blue and two white. A wordmark “W.B. ALBION” in white on top and “FC” in white at the bottom.
1972 - 1975
The 1972 emblem depicts a yellow outline of a thrush bird. The light green background resembles a lowercase letter “a.”
1970 - 1979
A new version of the striped shield. The background pattern consists of six blue and seven white lines. In the middle is a white bird sitting on a long branch with leaves and berries.
1969 - 1972
The 1969 emblem is all about the song thrush. Secretary Tom Smith first proposed this team badge. The brown thrush bird is sitting on a brown, green, and red branch of a hawthorn. The hawthorn branch represents Hawthorns Stadium, where the team moved at the beginning of the new century.