Colorado Rapids Logo

Colorado Rapids Logo PNG

The rocky mountains and the heraldic shield are the basis of the visualization of the football club. The updated Colorado Rapids logo accurately reflects the changes that have taken place and its location. The stylized ball emphasizes the sporting profile of the club.

The team name was approved in 1995. When the news broke that a football club would appear in Colorado, the organizers had allowed the locals to choose the name. According to the survey results, Rapids won. It symbolized the high canyons and rapids of the Colorado River. At first, green was the official color of the franchise. In 2003 it was changed to black and blue and in 2007 – to celestial-blue and burgundy.

Meaning and History

1996 – 1999Colorado Rapids owners made two re-brandings which influenced the insignia design. Throughout its history, the team had three main logos. Since 1996 one of them had been used as a secondary one, but in 2002 it became the main one. The last chance of the graphics was made when the team moved to the Dick’s Sporting Goods Park Stadium.

The debut insignia was devoted to MLS introductory season. It depicts the Colorado Rocky Mountains and copies the scene from the window of the club HQ at the foothill of the Rocky Mountains. In the eastern part of the ridge, the rivers flow into the Atlantic Ocean, and in the western part, it flows into the Pacific Ocean. The outrush is depicted on the logo, where the rushing current washes the foothill of the peaks. As the team owners claimed, it was a V-class rapid common in Colorado.

“Rapids” (in capital letters, but “R” is the largest) made in light-grey colors are printed against the background of grey mountains with snow-capped peaks. A styled italic sans-serif is used. “Colorado” is printed above the landscape. The symbols are arranged in a semi-circle arching over the rocks. The main elements are circled with black and white lines.

What is Colorado Rapids?

Colorado Rapids is a professional soccer team from the United States that competes in the Western Conference. It is a founding member of MLS. The club was established in 1995 and played its first game in 1996. In 2010, it won the Major League Soccer Cup. The team is owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment.

2000 – 2006

In 2000 the team made a reshuffle: the secondary logo made in 1996 became the main one, and the picture of the mountain river took second place. The main emblem consists of concentrated circles with a soccer ball inside a 16-point green star. The rifled geometrical shape contrasts with the white background. The elements in the middles are circled in three rings – blue, white, and golden. “Colorado Rapids” is printed inside. The golden letters are outlined with a white contour.

2007 – today

In 2007 a new era began for the club: it moved to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park Stadium and changed its symbols to keep up with other teams at Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. A rhombic heraldic shield became the central symbol. It has slightly curved lower faces, and its upper faces are at a right angle. Another heraldic shield of similar shape is placed inside. The team name in capital letters is printed there – upper line – “Colorado,” lower line – “Rapids.”

The peaks of the Rocky Mountains are placed under the letters. The styled version of the soccer ball contrasts with the background of the blue-grey Rocky Mountains. The number “96” is printed in the lower corner. It symbolizes the franchise debut as part of MLS. The main insignia colors are celestial-blue and burgundy.

Font and Colors

The basis of the Colorado Rapids graphic symbol is the Rocky Mountains. They are directly connected to the name of the football club, as the word “rapids” in this context refers to steep cliffs, deep canyons, and rushing streams of the Colorado River. That’s why in the first version of the logo, snow-covered mountain peaks were somewhere in the background, with blue water splashing in front of them.

When the team moved to a new stadium, the designers removed the waves, so the river is now only represented by a blue diamond-shaped line. It precisely mimics the shape of the heraldic shield, which contains all the elements of the logo. And there are quite a few of them: apart from the mountains, the artists depicted a multicolored soccer ball, the number 96 (1996 – the debut year of the Colorado Rapids), and the full name of the club, divided into two lines.

The font of the word “COLORADO” resembles a modified Big Noodle Tilting with the addition of small serifs. At least, the letter “A” has a distinctive rounded shape and a similar position to the horizontal stroke. The inscriptions “RAPIDS” and “96” are executed in Copperplate Gothic HV typeface with an increased letter spacing.

The emblem of the professional football club reflects its official colors. Initially, it was a dark shade of green. It was combined with white, gray, blue, black, and light brown. In 2007, the team updated its palette, choosing burgundy and sky blue as the main colors. However, white and gray didn’t disappear from the logo; they just started to occupy less space.

Colorado Rapids color codes