Nearly a century of football is stitched into four marks. Green Bay’s “G,” Chicago’s wishbone “C” and roaring bear head, Detroit’s leaping lion, and Minnesota’s Norseman are among the most recognizable crests in American sport. The NFC North Team logos represent a rich history.
The Cut-Throat NFC North in 2026
The Bears and Packers date from the league’s founding era and contest its oldest rivalry. Green Bay has won 13 league championships, five under Vince Lombardi; Chicago’s 1985 champions remain the benchmark for single-season dominance. And in Week of the 2026 NFL season, the two storied rivals did battle once again, showcasing the fierce spirit of the NFC North Team.
Online betting sites couldn’t split the two sides heading into the Lambeau Field showdown. The Bears vs Packers odds on game day listed the visiting Bears as a narrow 2.5-point favorite, as well as a -124 favorite on the money line. Then, Green Bay delivered their best performance of the season, with quarterback Jordan Love throwing for 367 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-7 blowout, which has breathed new life into their season.
Detroit, meanwhile, won three titles in the 1950s but is one of the few teams in the NFL to have never played in the Super Bowl, coming closest in 2024 when they reached the NFC Championship Game for the first time ever. The Vikings arrived in 1961, and the 2002 realignment turned the NFC Central into the NFC North.
Chicago won the division last season in Ben Johnson’s first year, Detroit claimed the two titles before that, and Minnesota went 14-3 in 2024. Five weeks into 2026, the Vikings are 5-0 while the Bears, Lions, and Packers sit level at 3-2. Is there a tighter division in football? These family crests have barely changed in years. The race they decorate is wide open.
Chicago Bears
Since 1962, the wishbone “C” has ridden on Chicago’s helmets, white at first and orange with navy and white trim from 1974. In August 2023, though, the club quietly promoted the orange-and-navy bear head, in use since 1999 and long a co-primary, to sole primary logo. The team called it a minor change giving retail, media, and league partners clarity, and a spokesperson said it had nothing to do with the stadium search.
Can a team change its primary logo without anyone noticing? Chicago nearly did. No further change is planned, but the Bears’ Rivalries uniform, a midnight palette with burnt orange accents and Chicago-flag striping, debuts in the second clash with Green Bay set for Christmas Day. That game can’t come soon enough.
Caleb Williams produced 407 passing yards and two rushing touchdowns in two appearances to start the new campaign, including the 59-37 win in Carolina, before a Grade 2 hamstring strain in the 9-3 loss to Minnesota. Case Keenum then beat Philadelphia 27-7, and Tyson Bagent beat the Jets 23-12, but Sunday’s 31-7 defeat at Lambeau stung.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport says all signs point to Williams returning at Atlanta; Johnson says only that he’s on track. With four divisional games left, two against Detroit, a healthy Williams makes the playoffs realistic.
Detroit Lions
April 2009 gave Detroit’s leaping lion its modern form: a fiercer cat with white eyes, mouth, and mane, outlined in white and black beside an italicized wordmark. In February 2017, the Lions removed the black altogether, switched the outline to silver, and introduced a new typeface, calling Honolulu blue and silver “synonymous with the Detroit Lions since 1934.” The primary mark hasn’t moved since. New uniforms followed in April 2024, and the Rivalries kit debuts when Minnesota visits on November 1.
The defense is another matter entirely. Detroit was conceding 31.8 points a game, 31st in the league, before the win at Arizona. It edged New Orleans 31-30 in overtime, lost in Buffalo, and fell 32-26 at Carolina despite Jared Goff’s 412 yards. Sunday’s 45-21 win in Arizona was a reset: Goff threw three touchdowns and ran for another, Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for 151 yards and two scores, and coordinator Drew Petzing beat the club whose offense he ran for three seasons.
Green Bay arrives on 25 October after the bye. Fix the defense, and this is a playoff team.
Green Bay Packers
What does it say about the Packers that their biggest logo change in six decades was a gold border? The “G” was born in 1961, when equipment manager Gerald “Dad” Braisher relayed Lombardi’s wish for a “G” in a football shape and art student John Gordon had a sketch approved within 24 hours. The only meaningful revision came in 1980, adding a gold outline to today’s white “G” on a green oval.
Its reach endures: in March 2026, Grambling State secured a federal trademark for its own oval “G” after agreements with the Packers and Georgia. The Rivalries alternate revives the Lombardi-era interlocking “GB”, leaving the primary “G” untouched.
Fast forward to now, and Jordan Love is finally finding his feet, throwing for 367 yards last time out, the most by a Packers quarterback against Chicago at Lambeau; Christian Watson caught two long touchdowns, and Xavier McKinney intercepted two passes in a 31-7 rout. That followed a 39-22 opening loss in Minnesota and a booed 35-14 home defeat to Atlanta without Josh Jacobs and Micah Parsons.
Parsons has targeted the upcoming game against former team Dallas for his long-awaited return; a trip to Detroit follows, with Minnesota, the second Lions meeting, and the Christmas rematch still ahead. A run game averaging 2.7 yards a carry against Chicago needs work, and last season’s five-game closing slide is a warning.
Minnesota Vikings
In February 2013, Minnesota unveiled a refreshed Norseman, framing the work as enhancements rather than a reinvention. Five tweaks did it: reshaped and reshaped horns, a horn base matching the players’ helmets, thicker lines on the mustache and face, a brighter, less brassy gold, and a shorter braid. The braided hair, big mustache, and purple-and-gold horned helmet stayed. The team tied the timing to planning for its new stadium.
For now, the youngest club in the division is its only unbeaten one. After a 9-8 season last term, the bookies set Minnesota’s 2026 win total at 8.5. Those expectations have already been blown out of the water thanks to a 39-22 comeback over Green Bay, followed by four wins in which no opponent topped 16 points.
Kyler Murray delivered his best performance yet in Sunday’s 23-13 win in New Orleans, completing 24 of 30 passes for 229 yards and a touchdown. After the bye, come Indianapolis on October 25, a trip to Detroit, Buffalo, and a visit to Lambeau. Keep Murray healthy, and these unfancy Vikings are genuine contenders.