Bayer 04 Leverkusen Logo PNG
The emblem immediately shows that it represents a strong player in the world of sports who never gives up. The Bayer 04 Leverkusen logo exudes power. Club players fight for victory like lions and never give up the initiative.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen Football Club has earned the playful nickname “Neverkusen” from fans for its sporting failures. People remember not how it won the German Cup or the UEFA Cup, but that it won no titles. Since 1906, the team has been only second in the Bundesliga.
However, Bayer has an excuse: it is located in Leverkusen, a small town, and is forced to compete with neighboring clubs with multimillion-dollar support. So it relies only on its sponsor, the pharmaceutical company Bayer AG.
Meaning and History
All team logos are divided into four groups. The first contains only one graphic sign: a shield with symbols traditionally used by Bayer AG. The second includes visual identification elements, including the so-called “Bayer cross,” inside the circle. The third category is unusual split emblems consisting of two squares with text on them. The fourth and final group contains logos with red lions.
What is Bayer 04 Leverkusen?
Bayer 04 Leverkusen is a German professional soccer team from North Rhine-Westphalia. The team competes in the Bundesliga and plays its home games at the BayArena. Thyer AG (a pharmaceutical company) founded the club in 1904.
1904 – 1907
As Bayer AG created the club, the first emblem features its symbols: a blue globe and a golden-winged lion with a staff. The artists depicted a staff, but the “caduceus”, an attribute taken from ancient mythology, is used as an occult symbol in the heraldry of many countries.
Graphic elements are placed in a ring around the inscription “TURN-UND SPIELVEREIN BAYER LEVERKUSEN.” This was the name of the first sports organization of a pharmaceutical company. Nearby are the numbers “19” and “04”, indicating its founding year. The football department, which would later become Bayer 04 Leverkusen, was founded in 1907.
1928 – 1938
In the 1920s, the club split into footballers, boxers, athletes, fistball players, and handball players, who formed an association called Sportvereinigung Bayer 04 Leverkusen. In doing so, they retained their red-and-black color scheme, which they used in the new logo.
The Bayer Cross, a symbol that dominates Leverkusen’s city center, has become an element of the football team’s visual identity. The designers placed it in the middle of a red circle on a black triangular shield. White lines surround the circle, symbolizing the sun’s rays. Above it says “Sp. Vg. “and below it is 04.”
1948 – 1965
In 1948, a simplified logo appeared: an inverted black triangle with a Bayer cross in a white ring and the words S.V. Leverkusen on an orange stripe.
1965 – 1970
Another version of the emblem is a white circle with two crossed words, “BAYER” and the numbers “0” and “4”. The inscriptions are enclosed in a ring, and the circle is enclosed in a red frame with “BAYER” (above) and “LEVERKUSEN” (below).
1970 – 1976
A red circle and a thin white ring surround the black triangle with rounded sides. It traditionally houses the “Bayer cross.” A new element is the connected numbers “04,” highlighted in enlarged font.
1976 – 1984
The split logo marked a turning point in Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s history. It consists of two squares with cut corners. The first is red and black, striped, with a Bayer cross. The second one is white with a black outline and the inscription “04 LEVERKUSEN”.
1984 – 1996
The squares’ colors, shapes, and content have changed. The top one is now red-black but red-white. The lower one has the inscription “TSV 04 Bayer Leverkusen.”
1996 – 2006
At the end of the 20th century, the team returned the lion featured on the first emblem, not one but two at once, so that they are mirrored to the right and left of the “Bayer cross.” The lions are no longer yellow; they are red with black outlines. Yellow is used for the two ribbons at the top and bottom. They indicate the year of creation and the club’s hometown.
2006 – today
The colors are much brighter, and the inscriptions are more legible. The designers changed nothing else.
Font and Colors
The Bayer 04 Leverkusen football team played its first match in 1907. They had a slightly different name and emblems: a large white circle, a globe, and a lion with a staff. In the current graphic sign, only the lions remain, but they are assigned a secondary role. The centerpiece is the “Bayer cross”: two words, “BAYER,” sharing the letter “Y.” It is the famous symbol of the pharmaceutical company of the same name.
The Gothic and Sans Serif fonts were used for the inscriptions on the coat of arms. The colors are bright and saturated:
- Lions are red (Lust, # E32221)
- Rectangular ribbons are yellow (Titanium Yellow, # F3E500)
- The lettering and outlines are black (Eerie Black, # 1A171B).
- All elements are placed on a white background (Lotion, #FBFBFB).