A sporting pantheon of America’s honored baseball teams complements the Phoenix club with its own identity. Its logo is parsimonious, focusing on the name and state, presenting a stylized image of Western Diamondback, the mascot, and the basis of the modern Arizona Diamondbacks logo.
Arizona Diamondbacks: Brand overview
Founded: | 1998 |
Founder: | Ken Kendrick |
Headquarters: |
Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. |
Website: | mlb.com |
Arizona Diamondbacks is a professional baseball team from the USA that has been playing in MLB since 2000. The team is part of the NL structure as a representative of the Western Division. Arizona Diamondbacks is located in Phoenix, Arizona. The team was founded in 1998.
The history of the franchise started three years earlier when the owner held a contest for its name. Fans were asked to provide name options. In the fall of 1993, Jerry Colangelo, the majority owner of Phoenix Suns, said he was gathering a group of interested parties to apply for the expansion of the NBA team. His proposal was lobbied.
As a result, on March 9, 1995, the state of Arizona got a baseball team instead of a basketball club, which made its debut in 1998. The franchise fee for him amounted to $ 130 million. Jerry Colangelo headed the franchise. He managed the Diamondbacks until 2005 when the team was involved in a financial dispute.
In summer 2004, Colangelo resigned, and the following year he sold his stake to a group of investors. These include Ken Kendrick, Mike Chipman, and Jeffrey Royer. Later they were joined by former sports agent Jeff Moorad. He was the one who took over as CEO. The manager of the club was Kendrick, who still owns it.
Before the expansion franchise’s appearance, the founders asked the residents of Phoenix to vote for one of the options for the name. The list included several versions. They were mainly associated with the key symbol of the Arizona Sonora desert – the rattlesnake. Also, a baseball field in America is often called “diamond.” This is how Arizona Diamondbacks appeared – a game of words with double meaning. Today the name is often shortened to D-backs.
Meaning and History
The emblem of the current club is based on the artistically stylized image of the snake “Western Diamondback,” found in the sands of Arizona. Since the inception of the club logo resonates exactly with the name, over the years, it has been preserved almost exactly with the debut version. Only three small adjustments have been made.
What is Arizona Diamondbacks?
Team Arizona Diamondbacks represent the Arizona city of Phoenix in professional baseball competitions. She plays at Chase Field, is a member of the Major League Baseball sports organization, and has been a member of the National League West since its founding in 1998. The unofficial name of the franchise is D-backs.
1998 – 2006
On the first logo of “Arizona Diamondbacks” was a large letter “A,” reminiscent of the snake’s open mouth, where instead of the connecting line was drawn snake tongue. Under the letter was the full name of the team. The word “Diamond” was bigger in dark purple, and the word “backs” was made of sand on a dark purple background. The letter “A” was in two colors: a combination of dark green and dark purple.
2007 – 2011
After eight years, the logo was changed a little. The letter “A,” reminiscent of a snake’s mouth, remained the same but changed the color scheme to red and black. The team’s name was made in a different font, and they also changed color from dark purple to black, adding a thin yellow outline to the letters.
Unlike the previous logo, the letter “A” has become smaller in size, but the name of the team has increased, although it remains in the same style. In the word “backs,” the letters “A” and “K” added “tails,” which visually resembles two snake fangs.
2012 – today
At the moment, the club logo is more minimalistic than the previous ones. The color palette of the graphic sign remains the original. The concept consists of red Sedona (denotes copper mined in the state and is associated with a canyon near Sedona) and beige Sonoran (resembles the shade of the sand of the Sonora desert). The scheme also includes black and white colors. Turquoise, symbolizing the greenish-blue stone of Arizona, is excluded from this option.
The emblem’s main emphasis is placed on the letter “A,” which is the first in the name of both the team and the state. She is artistically associated with the image of a rattlesnake. This is evidenced by the ornament of snakeskin and a forked tongue, replacing the connecting jumper in the letter. The tongue and letter are painted red; the pattern is black, the edging is light sand. The logo itself is enlarged, and the name of the club has disappeared from it.
Font and Colors
In its short history, the logo of Arizona baseball players has remained almost unchanged. The capital “A” still looks like a coiled snake, ready to attack. The letter is her body; the horizontal bar is the protruding tongue. Therefore, all options schematically repeat the formidable reptile. Moreover, the official symbol of Arizona is a specific species – the crested rattlesnake from the genus of vipers, discovered by herpetologist Frank Willard.
The emblem repeats the pattern on the snake’s body. For this, the artists transferred it to the left side of the sign, forming a graphic ornament from four comb-like protrusions. They are highlighted not only with color but also with a light contour line. The central element is very interesting. It looks like two attributes at once – a forked tongue and sharp fangs.
The inscription on the debut version is made with an oblique typeface. All letters are in uppercase and have pronounced serifs. Now an individual font is used, reminiscent of encrypted characters. In both the first and second versions, the letters “D” is highlighted in the word “Diamond”: the developers enlarged them and made them the same.
The official palette of the emblem is divided into two periods: before 2006 and after. At first, turquoise green, blue-violet, and dark sand prevailed. The first was used to color the letter; the second was used for the twisted ornament; the third was for edging lines.
Then the designers connected the colors to the Arizona desert as much as possible and included red Sedona # A71930, sandy Sonoran # E3D4AD, white #FFFFFF, and black # 000000 in the scheme. Moreover, beige is called the shade of sand from a canyon near Sedona. It is named after him – Sonoran Sand. The team later added teal color # 30CED8 as well.
Arizona Diamondbacks color codes
Sedona Red | Hex color: | #a71930 |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 167 30 49 | |
CMYK: | 5 100 71 22 | |
Pantone: | PMS 187 C |
Sonoran Sand | Hex color: | #e3d4ad |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 227 212 173 | |
CMYK: | 0 4 20 7 | |
Pantone: | PMS 7501 C |
Black | Hex color: | #000000 |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 0 0 0 | |
CMYK: | 0 0 0 100 | |
Pantone: | PMS Process Black C |
Teal | Hex color: | #3fc2cc |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 63 194 204 | |
CMYK: | 60 0 23 0 | |
Pantone: | PMS 2226 C |
What is the Arizona Diamondbacks logo?
At first glance, the Arizona Diamondbacks logo looks like nothing more than the letter A representing the team’s name. But the black triangular ornament on the left side and the angular shape suggest otherwise: the symbol stands for more than just A – it is an imitation of the Western Diamondback Arizona snake, which became the mascot of baseball players. The crossbar reinforces the similarity of the letter with a reptile in the form of a forked tongue.
When were the Arizona Diamondbacks established?
Phoenix received the Major League Baseball franchise back in 1995. More precisely, it was done by a group of owners of Arizona Baseball, Inc. led by businessman and sports executive Jerry Colangelo. The Arizona Diamondbacks were registered with the league on January 16, 1997, and debuted a few months later, on March 31, 1998.
What are the Arizona Diamondbacks’ colors?
After a slight update to the shape in 2020, the main colors of the Arizona Diamondbacks were chosen black, Sonoran Sand, and Sedona Red. Turquoise continues to be used, but only in home games. It symbolizes a semi-precious stone that is mined in Arizona. White is also still relevant.
What city are the Arizona Diamondbacks in?
The Arizona Diamondbacks are based in the fifth most populous city in the United States, Phoenix. It has been the capital of the state of Arizona since 1889 and its cultural center.