Cincinnati Bengals Logo PNG
The name of the club from Cincinnati was a tribute to the memory of a bygone club and a reflection of the landmark of the local zoo. The modern Cincinnati Bengals logo symbolizes the team’s commitment to the future, following new trends in building game tactics and paying tribute to its history.
Cincinnati Bengals: Brand overview
| Founded: | May 23, 1967 |
| Founder: | Mike Brown |
| Headquarters: |
Cincinnati, Ohio,U.S. |
| Website: | bengals.com |
Cincinnati Bengals is a professional football team that competes in the National Football League as a member club of the league’s AFC North division. After being dismissed as the Browns’ head coach by Art Modell in 1963, its founder Paul Brown had shown interest in establishing another NFL franchise in Cincinnati; however, he was refused because of a small volume of a town stadium.
In 1967, an ownership group led by Paul Brown was granted a franchise in the American Football League. Brown named the team the Bengals in order “to give it a link with past professional football in Cincinnati.” Another Cincinnati Bengals team had existed in the city and played in three previous American Football Leagues from 1937 to 1942.
However, Brown chose the exact shade of orange used by his former team, possibly as an insult to Art Modell or as an homage to his start as a head coach at Washington High. He added black as the secondary color.
After Paul Brown died in 1991, his son, Mike Brown, inherited a controlling interest in the team. In 2011, Mike Brown purchased shares of the team owned by the estate of co-founder Austin Knowlton and is now the majority owner of the Bengals franchise.
Meaning and History
Tiger stripes are a timeless classic from Cincinnati Bengals. The logos of this football team are all orange and black, and most of them have a pattern in the form of parallel vertical lines. An exception is the 1970-1980 emblem, which depicts an orange helmet with black ‘Bengals’ lettering.
The running tiger symbol was used in the first year after the club was founded. Then a long period of helmets of various shapes began: artists changed their design by modern trends. In 1997, the animal emblem returned and remained relevant until replaced by the stylized letter “B.”
What are Cincinnati Bengals?
Cincinnati Bengals is a Northern Division (American Football Conference) member of the National Football League. The club was founded in 1966 and played its first season in 1968. As of 2021, Michael Brown is the majority owner. The Cincinnati franchise is the only league to win an NFL or AFL championship and one of twelve teams that failed to win a Super Bowl game.
1968 – 1969
As the Cincinnati Bengals first logo, the team chose a Bengal tiger’s caricature, running with a football under its right arm. The animal is drawn in detail, and the chosen angle unveils the mouth with sharp fangs. There is a white helmet with another tiger’s head painted on its side in the upper left corner. The chinstrap of this helmet is undone.
1970 – 1980
As the club joined AFC Central Division, it changed its logo. They removed the cartoonish tiger, replacing it with a 2D helmet with the wordmark “Bengals” in block letters. The letters are black with a white outline. The font is without squiggles. The helmet is orange: Paul Brown chose a similar orange shade to the Cleveland Browns as an insult to his former colleague Art Modell. The shape of the logo is an exact match with the logo of the opposing team.
1981 – 1989
In 1981, Cincinnati Bengals introduced a new logo. Wordmark “Bengals” is gone, faceguard is bigger, and the outlines are more defined. The color scheme was also changed: orange became significantly darker. There are wavy lines, which simulate the tiger pattern on the helmet. Six black stripes of different lengths and thicknesses are stretching from above, slightly wriggling on the ends.
1990 – 1996
In 1990, another change in the Cincinnati Bengals logo. The shape of the winding stripes on the helmet has changed.
1997 – 2003
In 1997, Cincinnati Bengals used both Bengal tiger and their name on the logo. The tiger is leaping and going to land on its front paws. The animal is aggressive, as indicated by its exposed claws and a fierce face. There’s a white outline around the tiger, which separates it from the other elements.
There is a wordmark “Cincinnati Bengals,” which takes two lines. The first word is lowercase in white, and the second one is uppercase in orange with the white outline. “Bengals” is written with a slab serif font. Rough geometric shapes, big squiggles, and angularity are typical for this font. The background behind the wordmark is black.
2004 – today
The current Cincinnati Bengals logo was adopted in 2004. It was developed by Verlander Design, who followed the path of simplification and chose the first letter of the football club’s nickname as the main element. They removed the tiger and long words, only keeping the brief orange “B” covered with three black tiger stripes. The font is the same as in the previous version – slab serif without curves on the squiggles. “B” looks short and concise. The designers made the top and bottom symmetrical, so they managed to convey the harmony of proportions.
Three black lines with pointed ends cross the orange letter from above. Tiger pattern reminds of the striped helmet, which appeared on the logo in 1981. The debut of the new Cincinnati Bengals emblem was on April 22, two days before the NFL draft.
Font and Colors
The letter “B” that begins the word “Bengals” reflects the Bengal tiger’s character. She looks “predatory” because of the pointed corners and orange-black palette. The drawing consists of traditional stripes, so it will not be difficult to recognize the tiger motifs even for those unfamiliar with the team name. The emblem was presented on April 22, 2004, as part of an official event.
The designers did without inscriptions, limiting themselves to only the stylized letter “B.” No fonts were used in its development: specialists from the Verlander Design studio created a design from scratch, especially for Cincinnati Bengals. At the same time, they tried to preserve the original palette, including the traditional colors of the club: black and orange. Long ago, the Paul Brown franchise’s original owner chose orange as the main shade and added black as a secondary one.
Cincinnati Bengals color codes
| Black | Hex color: | #000000 |
|---|---|---|
| RGB: | 0 0 0 | |
| CMYK: | 70 50 50 100 | |
| Pantone: | PMS Process Black C |
| Orange | Hex color: | #fb4f14 |
|---|---|---|
| RGB: | 211 47 30 | |
| CMYK: | 0 85 100 0 | |
| Pantone: | PMS 1655 C |
What is the Cincinnati Bengals logo?
The Cincinnati Bengals logo is a stylized B, written in bold with large triangular serifs. It is painted in the colors of a Bengal tiger – orange and black stripes.
When did Mike Brown take over the Bengals?
In 1991, Mike Brown inherited the Bengals shares held by his father, Paul Brown. And in 2011, he bought out Austin Knowlton’s stake and became the main owner of the team.
Why are Cincinnati Bengals?
This name was given to the football club by Paul Brown. He chose it because of the black and orange color scheme, which matches the color of the Bengal tiger. In addition, the American coach wanted the fourth version of the AFL, like the previous two, to also have its own Cincinnati Bengals franchise.
Where did the Cincinnati Bengals name come from?
The current Cincinnati Bengals team is not the first to use this name. She inherited it from the previous Cincinnati Bengals, who took part in two AFL variants.
