Central Florida Knights Logo

Central Florida Knights Logo PNG

The modern symbolism of the University of Central Florida’s sports department reflects the organization’s aspiration to keep pace with the times. The concise letter identity of the Central Florida Knights logo focuses attention on the name and affiliation of the subdivision, as well as on the desire to define goals and objectives clearly.

Meaning and History

The visual style of the “Central Florida Knights” university department consists of eight logos. They are divided into two types: early graphic and later textual. This sharp transition was due to design innovations in identity so that the concept, name, and goals of the team were immediately clear to opponents and fans. At the same time, all emblems are not colorful, with a predominance of pastel tones of the spectrum. Among them are dark yellow, olive brown, black, and white. The latter often serves as the background.

What is Central Florida Knights?

Central Florida Knights (more precisely, UCF Knights) is a sports department consisting of 16 student teams from the University of Central Florida. It is located in Orlando, Florida, participates in the American Athletic Conference, and competes in NCAA Division I (FBS). Starting in 2023, the organization will also be a member of the Sun Belt and Big 12 Conference.

1970 – 1979

The debut logo depicts knightly armor – a helmet with a lifting visor and lush feathers. The head in profile is decorated with important attributes of the university: the seal and the image of a winged horse from ancient Greek mythology, the abbreviation FTU (Florida Technological University), and the name of the sports teams (Knights). Above Pegasus on a dark background is a shining star, and its wings spread out and occupy the entire left side of the round sign. The authors of this variant are an FTU representative and graphic artist Dorothy Cannon.

1979 – 1985

When UCF players joined NCAA Division III, they began to play very well. This gave hope to the fans, who began to assert that such a style would help athletes give a decisive rebuff to anyone and anywhere. Thus, because of the team’s arrogance, the era of Fighting Knights began, that is, a rebranding followed by a redesign of the emblem. The emblem now features a serious knight on a rearing horse. The focused facial expression and spear thrust forward indicate the rider’s belligerent intentions. Below is the name of the sports faculty, and on the shield is the university’s abbreviation. All elements are surrounded by a thin ring. At the same time, the logo retained its original monochrome.

1985 – 1993

In the 1980s, a turning point occurred in the identity of the “Central Florida Knights.” It switched to a textual logo with the UCF block. The letters in it are geometric, decorated with massive serifs, and outlined by a thin black line. In addition, they are white, empty, and formed due to contrasting framing. The background is a golden map of the state of Florida, on which a five-pointed star is visible. It indicates the location of Orlando.

1993 – 2003

This period in the history of the university’s sports department is interesting in that the management tried to combine text and graphics. To achieve the desired effect, designers took the image of a knight and placed it to the left of the inscription. The warrior in full combat gear: in armor, with a spear, and in a helmet with feathers and a visor. The spear is slightly raised so that it pierces the abbreviation “UCF,” located diagonally with a white stripe. Below is the word “Knights”. Unlike the upper inscription, it is typed in black letters without serifs.

2003 – 2007

In this logo, designers replaced the bright golden color with a muted gold and painted it on the knight, who was previously a contour. They also made all the inscriptions black and added the word “Golden” to the word “Knights.” In addition, the authors left the spear white and translated all symbols into uppercase. The only difference between the upper and lower text now lies in the serifs: in the first case, they are present, and in the second, they are not.

2007 – 2012

The redesign was undertaken in connection with the sports department’s return to the old name, received at the beginning of its career. Changes were also reflected in the logo. The image of the university mascot, Knightro, is positioned not in profile but face-on, so it seems that the warrior is moving straight toward the viewer. The artists removed the long spear and put a broad sword in the knight’s hands, with which he swings at the enemy. Of the many inscriptions, only the abbreviation “UCF” remained. It took its place under the character’s right hand. The main colors are metallic gold, white, black, and gray.

2012 – 2017

To simplify the visual identification of the “Central Florida Knights,” designers proposed a letter logo. It uses only the abbreviated name of the university, consisting of three letters. The writing of the word “UCF” is based on the previous decoration – with a sharp upper end at “U.” The protruding spike resembles the tip of a sword. It is directed to the left. Similar serifs are also present in other symbols. Dark gold glyphs are complemented by white stripes inside and outlined around the perimeter by a unifying black line.

2017 – today

The management of sports teams decided to modernize the logo, for which they hardened it. Therefore, instead of dark gold Pantone 872, light gold Pantone 4515 appeared. The designers left everything else unchanged.

Font and Colors

Central Florida Knights color codes