A team's crest represents their respective nation or team. The United States, as you see above, has a pretty simple design. Stars and stripes (which we should be pretty well familiar with), and a simple US and soccer ball. Now, the blue stripes and red background for stars remains to be described. But the point is, the logo represents a meaningful reference for us as Americans. We see stars and stripes, red, white and blue on our national flag and in our patriotic songs.
Other countries throughout the world have a similar take on their national symbols and history. Check out the stories behind some of the crests for other national squads:
Cameroon, a sub-Saharan African nation, also uses a modified form of their flag in their crest, but also has a second symbol, of the "Indomitable Lion," partly to recognize the local wildlife, but also as a symbol of the team's success as Africa's most successful international team- qualifying for the World Cup more than any other country on the continent. The three vertical bands in the flag signify the "tricolor" flag of France (as a colonial ruler of Cameroon- French is still and official language), with red to indicate unity, yellow to show the sun and savannas in the north, and green for hope and the forests of the south. A central yellow star is called the "star of unity" (CIA World Factbook).
Check out this advertisement, briefly describing their look for this year's tournament:
Italy features a more historical twist to their crest. While once again, we see the use of the national flag, the team's primary color is not red, white, or green. It's actually "azure blue."
Why, you may ask... Prior to the 1860s, Italy was actually broken up into a series of separate kingdoms. Il Risogimento ("The Resurgence") began in the early 1860s, and consolidated power amongst the various Italian regions, all under the Kingdom of Italy. Throughout this time period (essentially through World War II), Italy was ruled by kings of the House of Savoy, who represented the unified nation under a flag featuring a shield depicting the signs of their monarchy, with "azzurro Savoia" (Savoy blue) encompassing the Savoy's shield:
And thus, the legend of the Azzurri (as is now the team nickname as well) was born.
Algeria's jersey crest, again based on their national flag, feature cultural as well as religious elements. The color scheme symbolizes Islam (green), purity and peace (white), and liberty (red). A crescent and star are also symbolic if Islam, with elongated "horns" of the crescent part of an Algerian belief that the longer horns bring happiness (CIA World Factbook).
For a few more examples, check out the stories behind England and the Netherlands by clicking the crests below:
Use the CIA Flags of the World page to see the role colors and symbols play in national flags. Do some investigating of your own- pick one or two countries that you have a personal interest in (whether in the soccer tournament or not) and comment on their flag's significance and symbology. Is there anything particularly meaningful you find?
Hopefully you have a pretty good idea of what types of symbolism goes into the design of a soccer crest. Think about these designs, and answer the following in post:
- What is your opinion of the logos? How do they compare to you perception of each country before having learned a little about each?
- How would you redesign any of the logos above, or a crest from another country, based on what you know about that country?
- What about the United States? Would you want to see different symbols used to portray the US?
Now, to get an even better idea of this concept, design your own personal crest to describe yourself.
(we would maybe do this as a homework assignment or in class activity, but for the blog, just describe in a post what you might do if you were to actually create one)
- What kinds of symbols or objects did you use, and what do they represent?
- How about colors?
- How does each element interact to create the whole image?
- Think about how you chose to depict yourself, and add any comments.
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