FC Cincinnati’s vintage-inspired logo with a modern twist provides appeal. Traditional heraldry, German grotesque, St. Mark’s, and the coat of arms of the Republic of Venice represent courage, strength, generosity, and mercy.
FC Cincinnati: Brand overview
Founded: | May 29, 2018 |
Founder: | Carl Lindner III |
Headquarters: |
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
Website: | fccincinnati.com |
FC Cincinnati is a professional soccer club from Cincinnati, Ohio that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer since 2019. Before this, the franchise with the same name was a member of the United Soccer League. The negotiations between the club owners and MLS officials about bringing a franchise to Cincinnati lasted almost a year – from the beginning of 2016 up to the middle of December. On May 29, 2018, MLS announced that local FC would join the league under the name of FC Cincinnati.
The new franchise belongs to the investment group, which owned the former FC Cincinnati. The dissolved club existed for about four years – from August 15, 2015, to November 30, 2018. Its majority owner is Carl H. Lindner III, co-CEO of American Financial Group. Minor owners, including Chris Lindner (Carl’s son), Mike Mossel (co-founder of Dayton Dutch Lions), Jack Wyant, George Joseph, Steve Hightower, Scott Farmer, Jeff Berding, and David L. Thompson, share the rest of the stocks.
Initially, the club was named Futbol Club Cincinnati. It was the only MLS member to exploit the Spanish-spelled word “football.” On April 16, 2018, the Board of Directors held a special meeting to change “Futbol” to “Fussball” (“ss” similar to German character ß) in legal and formal documents. However, it is not used in sporting references to the team or public discussion. Fortunately, rebranding didn’t affect the “FC” acronym and the shortened name “FC Cincy.” Renaming to Fussball Club Cincinnati is a tribute to the city’s German heritage.
The team’s moniker – “The Orange and Blue” – has been known much since its early history, but now it is solidified in the brand identity. Its main color scheme includes orange and blue, respectively. This mix was also used by FC Cincinnati of 2015-2018, which borrowed colors of Dayton Dutch Lions, yet present colors seem brighter and bolder. The secondary colors of white, dark blue, and grey are added to amplify this unique color palette in soccer.
Meaning and History
FC Cincinnati of Major League Soccer debuted in 2019 with a logo, whose concept and colors resembled the logo of the United Soccer League team with the same name. However, the design of a new logo Cincinnati is great. It has a kind of vintage aesthetic with a modern twist that is extremely appealing.
2019 – today
The Cincinnati logo features a traditional heraldic symbol – the Norman or Early Gothic escutcheon or the heater-shaped shield. It has a simple pointed triangle shape. Like a real escutcheon, the white shield has white bend sinister and dark grey bordure.
What is FC Cincinnati?
FC Cincinnati is a soccer club from Cincinnati, Ohio, founded by a group of people, including the Lindner family. Its current owner is Carl H. Lindner III. The team roster was officially announced in 2015, and the players began competing in 2018. Their debut league was the USL Championship, and their home arena was Nippert Stadium.
The bend sinister contains a grey “Cincinnati” lettering in the upper case. Its oblique typeface harmonizes with the traditional German sans serif grotesque. The city name cuts the emblem cleverly to fit a white lion in the lower and white-scripted “FC” in the top portion. The “FC” wordmark is written in the same font, but with beveled edges, and is placed in a blue triangle located in the upper left of the logo Cincinnati. The sides forming the right angle are slightly curved.
Оn the lower portion of the Cincinnati emblem depicts the figure of a winged lion on an orange background. It is a heraldic symbol of St. Mark the Evangelist and the Republic of Venice’s emblem, which epitomizes courage, strength, generosity, and mercy. The heraldic lion stands proudly on the hind legs and holds a sword in the left paw to sign that the club is ready for battle. The crown on the beast’s head pays homage to Cincinnati as Queen City. The mane has seven points representing the seven hills of Cincinnati, and the wing has three “feathers” one for each season played in USL before joining MLS. The lion’s tail is curved to look like a “C,” which stands for Cincinnati.
Font and Colors
The FC Cincinnati emblem takes the form of a Norman or early Gothic heraldic shield in a teardrop shape. Its main element is a winged lion with a crown and sword – the so-called Lion of Saint Mark, which symbolizes the best human qualities. The crown denotes the authority of the city. The sword, in turn, indicates a constant readiness to fight for high ideals.
The logo includes the inscription “FC Cincinnati.” The abbreviation formed from the phrase “Football Club” is located in the upper right corner against the background of a distorted triangle. The designers developed an individual font for it, in which the vertical strokes are cut at an acute angle. The nickname is stretched diagonally from bottom to top and visually divides the shield into two parts. It is written in an italic sans serif font with a strong tilt to the left.
In addition, the emblem represents all the official colors of the club – both primary and secondary. Among them are orange (#FE5000), blue (#003087), light gray (#BBBCBC), white (#FFFFFF), and dark blue (#041E42). They are combined in such a way that the base of the shield is light, and all details are dark. Only the letters “FC” and the silhouette of the lion are painted white to contrast with the bright geometric figures.
FC Cincinnati color codes
Indigo | Hex color: | #153264 |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 21 50 100 | |
CMYK: | 79 50 0 61 | |
Pantone: | PMS 294 C |
Yale Blue | Hex color: | #14478e |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 20 71 142 | |
CMYK: | 86 50 0 44 | |
Pantone: | PMS 7687 C |
Halloween Orange | Hex color: | #f26522 |
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RGB: | 242 101 34 | |
CMYK: | 60 0 23 0 | |
Pantone: | PMS 1655 C |