The emblem of the Turkish team, Besiktas’s logo, impressively demonstrates the unity of the East and Europe, the homeland of the club. The heraldry and color scheme reflect the team’s commitment to their country and national identity through concise graphics.
Besiktas: Brand overview
Founded: | 3 March 1903 |
Headquarters: | Besiktas, Istanbul |
Website: | bjk.com |
The Besiktas Gymnastics Club was founded in the European part of Istanbul in March 1903. Wrestling, boxing, weightlifting, and gymnastics were the first sports directions of the new athletic society. The football section appeared only in 1911 but soon became the main branch.
Initially, Besiktas’s colors were red and white. However, after the defeat in the Balkan Wars (1912-1913), the coloring was changed to black and white as a sign of mourning for the lost territories. This was a temporary solution until the Turks reclaimed all the Balkan lands. Unfortunately, the revenge did not follow, and the club’s colors remained black and white.
Meaning and History
Besiktas is the oldest club in Turkey and the first Turkish team to compete in the prestigious international tournament, the European Cup. Besiktas is also known for sticking to its traditions: its logo has included black and white vertical lines for many decades. The same stripes appeared on the athletes’ uniforms in the second decade of the last century. Rumors circulated that the club’s symbolism was originally based on a combination of red and white, and only after the Balkan War was red replaced with black as a sign of mourning for the dead. However, the team owners debunked this myth by showing the oldest emblem of Besiktas, which already contained black and white lines in 1903.
What is Besiktas?
Besiktas is a Turkish football club, one of the most successful in Turkey, with a large number of fans both domestically and internationally. The first Turkish club to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League in the 1986-1987 season. Besiktas is a significant, historically important Turkish club that has significantly influenced football culture and society in Turkey and beyond.
1903 – 1930
This is the club’s oldest logo, presented on its 100th anniversary. It proves that Besiktas originally used black in its symbolism. It features a quadrangular heraldic shield with a pointed base crisscrossed with black and white stripes. In its left half is a small Turkish flag: a red rectangle with a star and crescent.
The shield is inside a white circle framed with black and gold rings of varying widths. Nearby are inscriptions in Arabic:
- the football club’s name at the top;
- an analog of the letter “J” on the right;
- an analog of the letter “K” on the left.
- “J” and “K” are the initials of the club “Besiktas Gymnastics Kulubu.”
1930s – 1940s
During this period, two logo variants were presented, having the same colors but differing in shape and arrangement of elements.
The first version is a figured shield with a pointed base and a wide light contour. Inside it are three black and two white vertical stripes, and in the center is a small red shield with a crescent and a star.
The second emblem also features a shield but has ten corners. The stylized Turkish flag is placed in the top left corner, and in the center is the abbreviation “B. G. K.,” outlined above and below with thin white lines. Below is the number “1903,” the year Besiktas was founded.
1940 – 1960
The figure shield’s inner side is adorned with three vertical white and two black stripes. In the top left corner is a drawing of the Turkish flag, and beneath it is a horizontal line with the white inscription “BEŞIKTAŞ.”
1960 – 1970
In this version, the shield contains two white and three black stripes. At the same time, it does not have an external dark contour. The stylized and rotated 90-degree Turkish flag is in the center on a red mini-shield. Above it are the letters “B. G.K.,” and at the very bottom is the number “1903.”
1970 – 1980
Now, the emblem is a large rectangular shield with a rounded base. Inside, it is the same small shield but with cut corners. It serves as a base for Turkey’s national symbols. The abbreviation “B. G. K.” and the club’s founding year have not changed their placement.
1980 – 2000
The figured shield returns, indicating the club’s abbreviated name and the number “1903.” In this version, the middle black stripe is widened, and the star and crescent are slightly enlarged.
2000 – today
The logo became more compact and elegant because designers reduced the red shield inside it and narrowed the distance between the letters. The dots on “B,” “G,” and “K” disappeared, and new fonts with elegant curves and serifs were used in the glyphs.
Besiktas: Interesting Facts
Beşiktaş JK, often just called Beşiktaş, is a very famous soccer team from the Beşiktaş area in Istanbul, Turkey. They have a long history and lots of fans who love their team.
- Starting Up: The team was officially made in 1903, but it started with a group of students getting together to play soccer in the late 1800s.
- Their Stadium: Beşiktaş plays at Vodafone Park, which opened in 2016. It’s in a cool spot near the Bosphorus River and can hold more than 41,000 people. It replaced the old İnönü Stadium, which was also famous.
- Nickname: People call them the “Black Eagles.” This started in the 1940s after a sports commentator said they played like eagles, and the team loved the comparison.
- Winning A Lot: Beşiktaş has often won the Süper Lig, Turkey’s top soccer league. They’ve also won the Turkish Cup and the Turkish Super Cup several times.
- Playing in Europe: They haven’t won a big European tournament yet, but they’ve had some great games in the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.
- Fans: Beşiktaş’s fans are super passionate. The “Çarşı” group is famous for being loud, showing off with big banners, and doing good things in the community.
- Loud and Proud: During a game against Liverpool in 2007, the fans were so loud (132 decibels) that it set a record for being the loudest stadium.
- Trailblazers: Beşiktaş was the first Turkish team to join the Turkish Football Federation. They’ve played a big part in making soccer popular in Turkey.
- Early Winners: They won the first Turkish Super League season in 1956-1957, just the beginning of their success.
Beşiktaş has a cool story, starting with a group of students to become a top team in Turkey and Europe. Their fans love them, and they’ve achieved a lot over the years.
Font and Colors
The Turkish flag in the logo’s center reminds us that Besiktas is the first sports organization. The graphic sign encrypts another message: the black and white stripes, along with the other components of the emblem, add up to the number 1319. According to the Gregorian calendar system, this is the year the club was founded, equivalent to 1903 in the Islamic calendar. For some time, a version with stars above the shield was used, where each five-pointed star represented victories in championships.
Since the inscription became Latin, two fonts have been used on Besiktas’s logos. The first is a standard sans-serif font, and the second is an individual font with serifs and decorative elements.
The color palette is not that simple. There’s a myth that the football team’s first official colors were white and red, and the black-and-white combination only appeared after the Balkan War, which ended in 1913. The legend says the club used black as a sign of mourning. Some written sources report the same information.
The team itself denies such rumors. On its centennial anniversary, it presented its first emblem – proof that its colors have always been black and white. However, red also doesn’t remain aside, as it’s an important part of the Turkish flag depicted on the shield in the center.