Identity Theft is Not a Joke - The Crest CopyCats of Football
Imitation is the highest form of flattery
A football team's badge or crest is an integral element of their identity. It can represent the team's area, their history, their accolades and even their ethics. The football badge transcends just a logo or representative image; the badge is the club. Having a representative badge is fundamental for a football club.
Football badges often undergo changes throughout the years, usually in an attempt to modernise the look of the club. More often than not, these changes will not be too drastic, with an effort being made to maintain what makes the club's badge, and subsequently the club, so unique.
However, some football clubs opt to take inspiration from other clubs' badges, with inspiration sometimes being a loose term. In this article, I will be looking at ten examples of another team taking 'inspiration' from a differing team's badge.
1. FC Barcelona and Barcelona SC
FC Barcelona's badge represents one of the game's biggest and most well-known teams. The badge isn't just seen in the team's native country of Spain, but seemingly anywhere you may go. The club is known for their exciting brand of football, both past and present, incorporated by some of the best to ever manage and play the game.
Regarding the badge itself, Barcelona have been using a similar format to the badge pictured above since the 1910s, with the inclusion of St. George's flag in the top left to represent the patron saint of the city, and the red and yellow stripes residing in the top right to represent the colours of Catalonia, the region where Barcelona resides. The bottom section of the badge represents the colour of the club's home kit and a football icon, as possession of the ball is integral to Barcelona's style of play.
In terms of clubs copying aspects of Barcelona's badge, there have been a few examples of clubs having a similar format, such as Serie A side Sassuolo's current badge and Forest Green Rovers' badges from 1975 - 2011. But no more so than Barcelona Sporting Club's badge.
Barcelona Sporting Club are the 16-time champions of Ecuador, residing in the port city of Guayaquil and have more in common with FC Barcelona than just their badge. The club was founded in 1925 by Eutimio Pére, a Spanish immigrant from Barcelona and a devote Culer.
Barcelona Sporting Club's earlier badges contained aspects of their Catalonian counterpart, such as the St. George's flag, but the Ecuadorian side fully embraced the similarities of FC Barcelona's badge after winning their first top-flight title in 1955, adopting the badge pictured above.
2. Everton and El Hilal Sports Club El Obeid
Everton FC are a staple of English football, having been a founding member of the Football League in 1888 and a founding member of the Premier League in 1992. The Merseyside club have been English champions 9 times and have only been relegated to the second division twice in their 138-year history.
Everton first deployed a similar style badge to that seen above in 1938, and have been through various changes since, but returned to the aforementioned coat of arms in 1991.
The badge contains an icon of Prince Rupert's Tower, which is located in Everton Park and serves as a symbol of the area. The two wreaths either side of the tower are laurel wreaths, which represent victory and honour. The Latin motto underneath the main body of the badge translates to "Nothing but the best is good enough", communicating the club's ambition.
To the right of Everton's badge is the badge of Sudanese side El Hilal Sports Club El Obeid, more commonly referred to as El Hilal El Obeid. They were formed in 1931 and are based in El-Obeid in central Sudan. El Hilal El Obeid historically haven't had as much success as their Merseyside counterparts, with their most notable achievements being runners-up in the Sudan Cup twice and quarter-finalists in the CAF Confederations Cup once.
In terms of their badge, there's hardly any information online regarding the Sudanese side's connection to Everton; they have seemingly just taken inspiration from The Toffees' badge. This example differs from the FC/SC Barcelona example above, as El Hilal El Obeid haven't just taken and slightly rebranded their badge; instead, they've used Everton's badge as a template. Similar to Everton's, the Sudanese side's badge contains representations of the area and beliefs, such as the central crescent moon, which is used as a symbol of Islamic countries, with Islam being the dominant religion in Sudan, and an emblem of a baobab tree also known as the "Tree of Life" found in Northern Africa, where Sudan resides.
3. Arsenal and Gunners FC
Arsenal are another staple of not only English football but world football. Founded in 1886, Arsenal are 13-time champions of their country and by trophy count are the third-most successful club in England.
In terms of Arsenal's current badge, it's rather minimal, only including the colours of the traditional home strip, the name, and cannon emblem of the club. The icon of a cannon has been used in almost every Arsenal badge since 1904 and represents the Royal Arsenal munitions factory in Woolwich, where the club was founded.
Pictured to the right of Arsenal's iconic badge is the badge of the Zimbabwean-based Gunners FC. Gunners FC were founded in 2005 but were then renamed Yadah Gunners FC in 2014 before merging with Yadah Stars FC shortly after. Gunners FC of Harare now permanently operate under the name of Yadah Stars FC, meaning the club no longer bears any resemblance to London's Arsenal.
Before folding, Gunners FC and Arsenal had no formal relationship or definite ties to each other. Instead, Gunner FC inherited Arsenal's nickname and subsequent badge elements due to the attacking style of play the Zimbabwean side deployed, mirroring Arsenal's historical play style.
4. Bray Wanderers and Kerala Evergreen
Bray Wanderers currently play in the League of Ireland First Division, which is the second division of Irish football. They were originally formed in 1922 by ex-members of St. Kevin's Gaelic football club. Bray Wanderers suffered a decline in the mid-thirties and briefly folded before reforming in the 1942/43 season.
The badge seen above was replaced in 2023 in favour of a more modernised addition. The now old badge included elements of the town of Bray's original coat of arms, such as the golden bell to represent the ruined 13th-century church of Raheen-A-Cluig residing in Bray.
The badge also contains elements of the O'Toole and Brabazon family coats of arms, who were two families important to Bray's history. The golden bird found in the centre of Bray Wanderers' previous badge is a martlet bird, taken from the Brabazon coat of arms. The martlet is a mythical bird believed to be in perpetual motion due to it having no feet. The lion parallel to the aforementioned bell was taken from the O'Toole coat of arms.
To the right of Bray Wanderers' previous badge is the badge of now-defunct Indian side Kerala Evergreen FC. Kerala Evergreen were announced and introduced in July of 2017 by their founders, who revealed the badge of the soon-to-be I-League side, which had a striking resemblance to the Bray Wanderers badge. In fact, the only difference being that Kerala Evergreen's badge included a hornbill, which is the state bird of Kerala, instead of a martlet.
Keen-eyed Twitter users pointed out the similarities between the two badges, causing Kerala Evergreens to release a statement nine days after launch, apologising to both their fans and Bray Wanderers and stating that the badge was designed by an external company.
Unfortunately, Kerala Evergreens never even played a game, as due to external issues, the team folded only a few months after it was announced. There never was a replacement badge.
5. AFC Bournemouth and AFC Uttara
AFC Bournemouth were founded in 1899 as Boscombe Football Club. The club then changed their name to Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in 1923 to make the club more representative of the region before finally settling on AFC Bournemouth for the start of the 1971/72 season. Bournemouth have become a Premier League regular and achieved their highest-ever finish of 9th last season.
The current Bournemouth badge includes an emblem of late forward Dickie Dowsett. Dowsett played for Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic from 1957-1962, scoring 79 league goals. The cherries first added the emblem of the Englishman in 1972.
Azampur Football Club Uttara, or AFC Uttara, were formed in 2009 in Bangladesh, and currently play in the Bangladeshi amateur divisions. As for their badge, Uttara have seemingly made no effort to adapt Bournemouth's badge to their own design, only changing the colours and adding their founding year.
6. Crystal Palace and SPG Rasen/Antholz
Crystal Palace were officially founded in 1905 and are one of the founders of the Premier League. The Eagles achieved major silverware for the first time in their history last season after beating a struggling Manchester City side 1-0 in the FA Cup Final.
Palace introduced a similar style badge to the one seen above in 1987, and since made minor changes in 2006 and then 2013, resulting in the badge utilised today. The current Palace badge includes an Eagle to represent manager Malcom Allison's influence on the club between 1973-1976. When Allison stepped into the managerial position at Palace, he looked to change the image of the club by giving them the nickname 'The Eagles' to give the club a stronger and more majestic image, inspired by Portuguese side Benfica.
The eagle is perched above The Crystal Palace, a structure that was built in 1851 in Hyde Park before it burnt down in 1936. The structure was synonymous with South London, being based in Sydenham, and is the structure the club is named after.
SPG Rasen/Antholz are an amateur German outfit currently playing in the Amateurliga B. Their badge bears a resemblance to that of Palace's, with the only difference being the colour of the eagle, shape of the structure and type of football.
The badge is a blatant rip-off, but in a similar situation to Bournemouth's, there is probably not much sense in filing a lawsuit against a foreign amateur division side.
7. Nottingham Forest and Carolina Dynamo
Nottingham Forest are an English Premier League side who were founded in 1865. They won their first and only English First Division in 1977/78 and are two-time champions of Europe, winning the European Cup back-to-back in 1978/79 and 1979/80. The Tricky Trees have just concluded a very successful season, finishing 7th in the league and securing European football.
Forest's current badge was introduced in 1974 and has been almost completely unchanged since then. The central aspect of the badge is a Sherwood Tree included to represent Sherwood Forest, which is located north of Nottingham. The three lines below the Sherwood Tree are present to represent the River Trent, which runs through the city, and the two stars are included to represent the aforementioned two European titles Forest won in the late 70s and early 80s.
Keen-eyed readers may notice that the badge contains a lowercase 'e' amidst uppercase letters in the spelling of Forest. When the badge was being created in 1973 by local designer David Lewis, he wanted to make the badge unique. Speaking to Nottingham Live, Lewis stated that he "wanted it to be a bit more personal; a bit less like a company and more like a football club. So then came the 'e'. It's a unique Forest then, rather than anybody's Forest."
To the right of Forest's badge is the badge of American side Carolina Dynamo. The club were founded in 1992 and were first called Greensboro Dynamo SC. In 1995, the side became a professional outfit and began playing in the United Soccer League (USL) and in 1996, changed their name to Carolina Dynamo SC.
The badge seen above was created in 1993 and then subsequently updated to facilitate the new name in 1996. The badge contains a very recognisable emblem, that being a Sherwood Tree with three lines below. The connection between Forest and the Dynamo came via their founder, Neil Macpherson. Macpherson is a lifelong fan and shareholder of Forest, whose father was chairman between 1980 and 83. Macpherson wanted to honour his beloved club in the Dynamo's badge, hence the inclusion of the recognisable tree and river emblem. The additional triangle of the Dynamo's badge represents the two local triads of the region, the first triad being the area of Greensboro and the second being the 'Piedmont Triangle', which includes the city of Chapel Hill and the metropolitan area of Raleigh-Durham.
The Carolina Dynamo now operate under the name Salem City FC, after briefly being known as NC Fusion. Salem City have a new badge, which has no remanence of Nottingham Forest.
Torino are an Italian side hailing from Turin, Northern Italy. Il Toro currently play in Serie A and have been champions of their country seven times. Torino's badge features a central bull, which is a historical symbol of Turin, representing strength and power. Turin itself translates to 'Little Bull' and said bull has been present on Torino's badge since the club's beginnings. The current badge was adopted in the 2005/06 season.
Wexford FC are from south-east Ireland and play their football in the Irish second division. The side were founded in 2007 as 'Wexford Youths'. In 2017, Wexford dropped 'Youth' from their name, rebranding as Wexford FC and revealing a new badge. The badge was in a similar shape to the crest of Torino and included a certain 'Little Bull'. The imitation was included to commemorate Wexford's founder, Mick Wallace, who is a season ticket holder at Torino.
Wexford FC now have a different badge and have used said badge since 2022, which includes three golden spikes in the shape of a W, representing the rebellion of 1798, where the Society of United Irishmen rebels revolted against British Rule.
9. Bayer Leverkusen and Vihar Slavyanovo
Bayer Leverkusen play their football in the Bundesliga, the top division of German football. Die Schwarzroten have won the Bundesliga only once but became the first and currently only team to win the German top division unbeaten. As well as a singular Bundesliga title, Leverkusen have won the DFB-Pokal twice and Europa League once.
Leverkusen's modern badge was introduced in 1996; the badge includes the Bayer Cross in homage to the Bayer pharmaceutical company, where the team was founded in 1904. In addition to the team's founding year and name, the badge also includes two Bergisch Lions, adapted from the Leverkusen coat of arms.
Vihar Slavyanovo are a Bulgarian third division side founded in 1921, who finished third in their respective league last season. While it's unknown exactly when Vihar first started using the Leverkusen badge template, it was definitely after 1996.
Instead of adapting Leverkusen's badge, Vihar have seemingly opted to use the same badge but with replaced information. 'Вихър' translates to 'Vihar' and 'Славяново' translates to Slavyano from the Bulgarian alphabet, meaning Vihar have also copied Leverkusen's stylistic placing of their name.
Vihar Slavyanovo still use the above badge. Leverkusen have not commented on the Bulgarian side's badge and are seemingly not interested in taking legal action.
10. Bayern Munich and FC Lodigiana
Bayern Munich are a German and European powerhouse, having won 34 German top-flight titles, 11 of those being consecutive from 2013-2021, and 6 Champions Leagues/UEFA Cups.
A similar badge to Bayern's current badge was first introduced in 1966; since then, there have been few small tweaks, resulting in the current badge being utilised since 2017. The badge contains several blue and white diamonds in its centre, representing the state of Bavaria, where Munich is located.
FC Lodigiana are an Italian amateur side, playing their football in the 7th tier. There isn't a great deal of information surrounding the northern Italian side, with their last published set of results being from 2022.
As far as their badge is concerned, I saved this one until last, as this is probably the list's biggest blatant rip-off. At least Kerala Evergreens changed the bird from the Bray Wanderers badge; Lodigiana simply just switched the name of the teams and called it a day.
Shameless. Fair play.
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