Baltimore Orioles Logo

Baltimore Orioles logoBaltimore Orioles Logo PNG

The professional baseball club, nicknamed after Maryland’s official state bird, has reflected its name in the emblem. To make the Baltimore Orioles emblem appealing to fans of all ages, designers rendered it colorful and in a cartoonish style.

Baltimore Orioles: Brand overview

Founded:1901
Founder:Peter Angelos
Headquarters:
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Website:mlb.com

The Milwaukee Brewers baseball team was established in 1894 in Maryland to participate in the Western League.

In the early 20th century, the team was moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where it played for fifty-two years under the name St. Louis Browns. The Great Depression in the U.S. and the dominance of the “St. Louis Cardinals” in city baseball dealt a serious blow to the team’s attendance. Despite the start of World War II in 1941, owner Don Barnes attempted to move the team to Los Angeles, but the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor thwarted his plan. Major League Baseball representatives rejected Barnes’s proposal. They expressed concern that the U.S. authorities might restrict the movement of the prospective team.

In the post-war period, in 1951, the club was acquired by Bill Veeck. To attract more spectators, he expanded the range of promotional stunts and gimmicks. For instance, at the first game, he came up with serving free drinks, namely beer and soda. Veeck made another attempt to move the club to Los Angeles, but the move was again blocked.

In 1952, the owner of the “Cardinals” was convicted of tax evasion, which ultimately led to the team being sold to Augustus Busch Jr., the owner of the brewery company. Due to competition, the owner of the “St. Louis Browns” was also forced to sell the team to Baltimore brewers Jerold Hoffberger and Clarence Miles, who were trying to bring a Major League team back to their hometown, Baltimore.

After moving to Baltimore, the “St. Louis Browns” were immediately renamed the “Baltimore Orioles.” Despite their first season being quite unsuccessful, the number of spectators for the season exceeded 1 million people.

The team was named after the Baltimore oriole, the state bird of Maryland. Therefore, since 1954, it has been the primary element and symbol of the team’s emblem. The orange letter “B” was adopted as a logo in 1963, but this was the only season without birds in the team’s history. The Baltimore Orioles logo remained unchanged for 23 seasons, but in 1966, a cartoon bird first appeared on the Orioles’ caps. In 1989, the team removed it in favor of a realistically-looking bird.

Meanwhile, the Oriole bird has been the team’s mascot since 1979. In 2012, the club introduced a modernized version of the cartoon bird. In 1993, the franchise was sold to Baltimore businessman Peter Angelos for a record $173 million, the largest amount paid for any sports team.

Meaning and History

Baltimore Orioles Logo History

The seventeen logos that the Baltimore Orioles franchise has changed differ from each other in many elements and styles. Some are dominated by monograms, others by round stamps with text, and others by a bird. This is because the club changed several owners, cities, and names. Each stage was necessarily accompanied by a logo redesign – from minimal adjustments to large-scale changes.

What is Baltimore Orioles?

The Baltimore Orioles is a baseball team owned by American lawyer Peter G. Angelos (as of 2021). It participates in the American League East and has quite successfully competed in Major League Baseball. Its home stadium is called Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

1901

Milwaukee Brewers Logo 1901

In the early 20th century, most teams used their state or hometown emblem as their logo. Thus, the first logo of the Milwaukee Brewers simply depicted the city’s name written in blue.

1902 – 1905

St. Louis Browns Logo 1902-1905

In 1902, the team was still called the “St. Louis Browns,” so its emblem was a brown abbreviation of the city “St. L.”

1906 – 1907

St. Louis Browns Logo 1906-1907

The 1906-1907 season’s uniform was adorned with a highly curious logo. Inside a baseball diamond, the letters “STL” intertwined. The primary color remained the same.

1908 – 1910

St. Louis Browns Logo 1908-1910

In 1908, the club’s emblem changed the STL abbreviation to a brown fleur-de-lis or heraldic lily.

1911 – 1915

St. Louis Browns Logo 1911-1915

The fifth logo featured a combination of intertwined letters, “STL,” in brown.

1916 – 1935

St. Louis Browns Logo 1916-1935

In 1916, the team changed its emblem again, removing the letter “T” and leaving “SL” in brown. The letters were blurred as if painted with watercolor. The “St. Louis Browns” used this logo until 1935. This marked the end of using letters and the city name in their logo.

1936 – 1951

St. Louis Browns Logo 1936-1951

The logo’s color palette was changed to white, black, and orange. It featured a statue of St. Louis (the city’s namesake) on horseback holding a sword. The statue was set on a shield with eight brown stars at the top and orange and brown stripes. In the center of the shield was a white baseball with the inscription “BROWNS.”

1952 – 1953

St. Louis Browns Logo 1952-1953

After 15 years, the emblem was completely changed, now depicting a cartoon head of an orange elf.

1954 – 1965

Baltimore Orioles Logo 1954-1965

After moving to Baltimore, the team changed its name to the “Baltimore Orioles,” which meant adopting a new logo. For the first nine seasons, the “Orioles” depicted a smiling cartoon oriole, colored in black, orange, and white, climbing a white baseball. Behind the baseball were two crossed bats, and in the center of the baseball was the word “ORIOLES.”

1966 – 1988

Baltimore Orioles Logo 1966-1988

In 1966, the team’s owners enlisted helpers to create an appealing bird character. The tenth-anniversary logo was designed by Stan Walsh, who created the most mind-blowing logos for “Hamms Bear,” “Snap, Crackle, and Pop.” He changed the orange color to red. Inside a red circle with the inscription “Baltimore Orioles” was a red oriole in a black cap and boots, swinging a red bat.

1989 – 1991

Baltimore Orioles Logo 1989-1991

The next Baltimore Orioles logo differed slightly from the previous one. In 1989, the team simply changed the colors to brighter shades of black and orange.

1992 – 1994

Baltimore Orioles Logo 1992-1994

In 1992, the team removed the circle and depicted a realistic orange oriole with black wings sitting on the letter “i” in the word “Orioles.” Inside the orange tail of the oriole was the word “Baltimore,” written in white.

1995 – 1997

Baltimore Orioles Logo 1995-1997

The team introduced a new logo. The bird still stood on the letter “i” in the word “Orioles,” but it was turned to the right. The orange font was placed on a background consisting of a yellow and green baseball diamond.

1998

Baltimore Orioles Logo 1998

For the 1988 season, very minor changes were made to the emblem. The only difference was the design of the bird, which very much resembled a real orange-black oriole.

1999 – 2008

Baltimore Orioles Logo 1999-2008

The fifteenth emblem of the Baltimore Orioles remained the same, the only change being the improved color and more precise details of the oriole image.

2009 – 2018

Baltimore Orioles Logo 2009-2018

The latest emblem of the “Baltimore Orioles” was changed: in 2009, the background with the baseball diamond was removed. The red color was replaced with orange. The black-white-orange oriole remained, but it was not as bright as in the previous logo.

2019 – today

Baltimore Orioles Logo 2019-Present

The most recent version in Baltimore Orioles’ history appeared in 2019. But it’s not a radical update, but rather a rework of the old version dated 2012-2018. The developers took the alternative logo, which was used for promotional purposes, and approved it as the club’s main visual attribute.

The logo features not a realistic, but an anthropomorphic oriole, or rather, its part. The head is on a white background and is positioned in a semi-profile. The bird’s face has a smile, and the tip of the beak is slightly curved. The look is pleasant and friendly. The team’s mascot also has a dark baseball cap with a light visor. On the visor, there’s a patch in the shape of an uppercase “O” and a lowercase “s.”

Baltimore Orioles: Interesting Facts

The Baltimore Orioles are a baseball team with a long history dating back to the 1800s. They’re known for a few cool things:

  1. Start in 1954: Even though the Orioles officially became a team in Baltimore in 1954, their roots go way back. They started as the Milwaukee Brewers in 1901, became the St. Louis Browns, and finally moved to Baltimore.
  2. Famous Stadium: Since 1992, they’ve played at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. This place is special because it mixes old-style looks with new comforts, inspiring other stadiums to do the same.
  3. Top Players: The Orioles had three players who were the best in batting average, home runs, and RBIs in the same season: Frank Robinson in 1966, Brooks Robinson, and Cal Ripken Jr. They showed how talented Orioles players could be.
  4. Cal Ripken Jr.’s Record: From 1982 to 1998, Cal Ripken Jr. played 2,632 games, breaking a record and earning him the nickname “Iron Man.”
  5. Winning Big: They won the World Series thrice—in 1966, 1970, and 1983. The 1966 win was huge because they beat the Los Angeles Dodgers when no one thought they could.
  6. Pitching Strategy: In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Orioles started using relief pitchers in a new way, which led to the bullpen strategy teams use today.
  7. Birdland: Orioles fans and the atmosphere at their games are lovingly called “Birdland.” It’s all about loving the team and enjoying baseball together.
  8. Mascot: The team’s mascot is the Oriole Bird, a big hit with fans and a symbol of Maryland, where the team is from.
  9. Famous Players: Some Orioles players are in the Baseball Hall of Fame, like Cal Ripken Jr., Brooks Robinson, and others. They’re remembered for being some of the best.
  10. Helping Out: The Orioles help their community a lot through their charity work, supporting children, schools, and health programs.

The Baltimore Orioles have a rich history of great baseball, community involvement, and important game changes.

Font and Colors

Baltimore Orioles Emblem

Almost all Baltimore Orioles branding is associated with the oriole – either with its name or with a drawn image. This is because the franchise is named after the official mascot of the state of Maryland, and since 1954, it has been part of the logo structure. True, there were several periods initially when the oriole was not present on the logo at all. Its appearance took place in the middle of the last century: it was depicted as a cartoon character combined with a baseball theme. Since that time, the bird has never left the emblem. A realistic image was approved in 1992.

Baltimore Orioles Symbol

If there is no text in the modern version (only two letters – “O” and “s”), early versions have an inscription. In some cases, a sans-serif chopped font is used; in others, a handwritten font with flowing symbols. The word “Orioles” is positioned diagonally and reads from bottom to top. All letters are supplemented with shadows, making the font look voluminous. In the modern logo, the signs are also handwritten and have thin outlines.

The official color palette of the team is black, dark orange, gray, and white. Previously, it also included dark blue, brown, brick red, green, and beige.

Baltimore Orioles color codes

BlackHex color:#000000
RGB:0 0 0
CMYK:0 0 0 100
Pantone:PMS Process Black C
OrangeHex color:#df4601
RGB:221 73 38
CMYK:0 79 100 0
Pantone:PMS 1655 C
GreyHex color:#a2aaad
RGB:162 170 173
CMYK:21 11 9 23
Pantone:PMS 429 C

FAQ

When did the “Baltimore Orioles” change their logo?

The last update of the Baltimore Orioles logo dates back to 2019. Now, it looks like the black-orange head of an anthropomorphic oriole in a baseball cap. True, this symbol appeared much earlier: it was used as an alternative until the team’s management decided to make it the primary one.

Why is “Baltimore” called “Orioles”?

The baseball club was named after the real oriole, classified as a separate species – the Baltimore oriole (Icterus galbula). It is one of the symbols of the state of Maryland, where the sports team is based. As for the name, the bird got its name due to the black-orange plumage of the males, reminiscent of the coat of arms of the first owner of Maryland.

Will the “Orioles” change their logo?

The sports team last updated its logo in 2019. Whether further changes are planned is not known for certain: the management of the “Baltimore Orioles” has not yet commented on this matter.

What is the name of the Baltimore Orioles mascot?

The name of the Baltimore Orioles symbol is not original. It’s called Oriole Bird. It’s an anthropomorphic character that looks like a huge black-orange bird in a baseball cap.