Aston Villa Logo

Aston Villa Logo PNG

The oldest British football club in 1874 was Aston Villa, whose logo reflects elements of the Scottish royal coat of arms. It symbolizes courage and strength and demonstrates a commitment to the rich history of the club and its achievements.

Meaning and History

William McGregor, the first president of the club, played an important role in creating the image of Aston Villa. He was Scottish and saw the team’s connection to Birmingham’s Scottish community, so he decided that the logo must have a lion from the royal arms of Scotland. It so happened that lions have always personified bravery, courage, and strength. It was for this reason that it was decided to choose a lion as the main symbol. But in the previous version of the logo, the lion, according to fans, lacked anger. Therefore, it was decided to redraw the lion. The silhouette of the new lion has changed; claws and teeth have been added.

What is Aston Villa?

Aston Villa is one of the oldest British professional football clubs, established in 1874 and part of the Premier League. The team is based in the city of Birmingham. They have won numerous prestigious trophies and awards: 7 Football League First Division titles, 7 FA Cups, 5 League Cups, 1 European Cup, and 1 European (UEFA) Super Cup.

1880 – 1881

The debut emblem depicts a real heraldic lion – large, fearsome, with a long tongue and sharp claws. The red beast is depicted on a white background.

1886

In 1886, Aston Villa had the first and only logo without a Scottish lion. It looks like a rectangular four-piece billboard complete with FORWARD tape. Each segment has its pattern: a chain of yellow rhombuses on a blue background or a black zigzag line dividing the space into two halves – red and yellow.

1956

The artists brought the lion back but turned it the other way and changed the painting style. The beast is depicted inside the figured coat of arms of blue. At the bottom is the same blue ribbon with the old motto “PREPARED.” A light brown border surrounds large elements.

1970s – 1980s

The team adopted an emblem in the shape of a rectangle with a pointed base. The lion again looks like a traditional heraldic symbol, but now it is completely yellow. The maroon and blue stripes in the background duplicate the color of the form. Above in a rectangle is written the name of the club (“ASTON VILLA FC”), and below on the ribbon – the motto (“PREPARED”).

1973 – 1987

In 1973, a round logo with a red lion on a blue background was introduced. The inscription “ASTON VILLA FC” remained, but it was moved to a wide purple ring used as a frame. This badge adorned players’ uniforms in the League Championship (1981), European Cup (1982), and European Super Cup.

The 1980s

In 1984, copy machine manufacturer Mita Copiers became a sponsor of Aston Villa. The partnership lasted nine years, during which time the team used the italicized “mita” logo. But even then, the Scottish lion did not disappear: the designers left it along with the circle and the name of the club, slightly reducing them and making them white and purple.

1980s – 1990s

When Mita Copiers stopped sponsoring Aston Villa, the old logo used in 1973-1987 returned. The lion is brown, the circle is blue, the ring is burgundy, and the outer outline is wide and bright yellow.

1990s

Another color change has occurred. The font of the inscription “ASTON VILLA FC” has also been updated.

1990s – 2000s

In 1992, the club introduced a modernized version of the 1970s emblem, with a yellow lion on a striped shield. Only the ribbon is now not blue, but light brown, like the rectangle at the top.

1990s – 2007

With the new millennium’s advent, the designers have detailed the lion, removed the tape, and moved the “PREPARED” slogan inside the shield. They also removed the “FC” and chose a serif font for the club name.

2007 – 2008

In 2006, American businessman Randy Lerner became the owner of Aston Villa. In honor of this event, the football team unveiled a logo supposed to herald the beginning of a new era – a shield with a crimson outline, filled with blue. On top of the blue one, a lion is standing on its hind legs. At the bottom of the logo is the club’s motto: “Prepared.” The club’s management approved this emblem on May 2, 2007; it largely retains continuity with the previous emblem. Traditional club elements include blue and crimson colors and a golden lion. The lion’s image refers to the coat of arms of Scotland, where the founders of the club, George Ramsay and William McGregor, were from. The full name of the club “Aston villa” now appears the abbreviation AVFC (Aston Villa Football Club). On the left is a white five-pointed star dedicated to winning the European Cup (1982).

2008 – 2016

The designers chose a different shade of blue and used burgundy instead of raspberry.

2016 – 2023

2016 was especially bad for Aston Villa: the team was kicked out of the Premier League and then paid £ 100,000 for a new logo similar to the previous one. The designers just removed the word “PREPARED,” enlarged the lion a little, and added claws to it.

2023 – today

Aston Villa Football Club unveiled its redesigned logo in November 2022, but its official debut was slated for the 2023-2024 season. This is not to say that the icon is completely new: attentive fans will find familiar elements in it.

• The lion is a cunning and dangerous predator, becoming the club’s main symbol. In most of the old emblems, he looked to the left and was not detailed enough. Now the designers have turned the animal to the right and made its silhouette more expressive by adding additional contours on the paws and in the mane. This brought the logo as close as possible to the original version of 1878-1886.
• The five-pointed star is a symbol of pride. It has been scaled down and moved to the top right corner so that the animal’s gaze is directed directly at it. The star recalls that the players won the European Cup in 1982.

What’s new is the foundation. If earlier the lion was depicted on the shield, now it is placed inside a blue circle with a wide purple frame. 77% of the fans who participated in the poll voted for the round emblem.

The color ratio has also changed. Now the logo has a lot of purple and blue, and yellow is used only for inscriptions. One of them is the phrase “ASTON VILLA,” located at the top and made in the usual bold font with short serifs. And below is the number “1874”, indicating the year the club was founded.

Font and Colors

The lion became the main symbol of Aston Villa initially and has not left the logo since then. It is a tribute to the Royal Arms of Scotland and the Scottish heritage of Birmingham. The designers only changed the color, style, and position of the animal and experimented with the visual context.

The heraldic lion was most often depicted against the background of round or rectangular shields with a pointed base. It was complemented by the motto “Prepared,” which has been used by the team since 1878. Now the slogan is absent: the developers have simplified the logo to match the fashionable minimalism.

The abbreviation that adorns the top of the shield is in a serif typeface. This font is called Stempel Garamond Bold and belongs to the French Oldstyle group. It was created by the Parisian printer Claude Garamond in the first half of the 16th century.

The logo reflects the official colors of Aston Villa: burgundy (# 670E36) and blue (# 95BFE5). They are complemented by a bright yellow (# FEE505), which has been used for the lion since 1992.

Aston Villa color codes