Green Bay Packers is a member club of the NFC North division and non-profit professional sports team in the major league. This team is based in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The club is considered unique today because with 360 584 stockholders (by the data of 2015), it’s public property. Besides, 4% of the franchise is a free float. That’s how a non-profit organization and ordinary people have been supporting it for the whole century. With that, the team has undisclosed owners, and being the public property helps the franchise financially.
Everything started with two football fans-competitors’ unexpected decision – Earl “Curly” Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun. Lambeau solicited funds for uniforms from his employer, a local packing company. He was given $500 cash for uniforms and equipment, on the condition that the team would be named for its sponsor. This condition was fulfilled.
As a result, during 1919-1922, the team was led by George W. Calhoun, J. E. Clair, and Earl Lambeau. In the second half of 1922, the owners’ list became bigger: besides Lambeau, it consisted of Gerald Clifford, Leland Joannes, Webber Kelly, and Andrew Turnbull. The franchise was in this status until 1935. Then similarly named enterprise got all the rights, and the franchise became public property completely.
The corporation suffered a decline, bankrupted, renamed to Acme Packing, bankrupted once again, and was barely rebuilt after that. But all this time, Green Bay Packers rejoiced in the name of their sponsor and founder.
Meaning and History
By changing the Green Bay Packers team’s logos, you can trace the path of its formation. It all started with a simple emblem in the shape of a rectangle with rounded corners and a few words: “YOU WANT IT, WELL PACK IT,” “AP,” “ACME PACKERS,” “Green Bay, WI,” “1921 FOOTBALL”. Judging by the text, the main focus was on the club’s sponsor, name, and motto.
Later, in 1951, the franchise got a logo corresponding to the sports theme. The “Packers” moniker took center stage, with an American football ball in the background. In 1956, the developers removed the lettering and brought the ball to the fore.
The Packers hold the trademark on the “G” logo and have granted limited permission to other organizations to utilize a similar logo, such as the University of Georgia and Grambling State University.
1921
Debut Green Bay Packers logo isn’t sophisticated. The logo is simple and consists of standard names with various fonts on a white background. It goes back to the company’s name change to Acme Packing, which is represented on the logo. It looks like a chevron – brand patch on the clothes. It’s designed as a round-edged oblong rectangle. It’s outlined with two black stripes with white space in the middle.
There are crossover “A” and “P” in the middle of the logo and their definition – their sponsoring corporation’s name. All these elements are the same color: capital letters are dark blue with a gold outline, and the wordmark “Acme Packing” is gold. There is the name of the city, state, and 1921 below. The logo features the slogan “You want it, we’ll pack it” in the upper right corner.
1951 – 1955
Green Bay Packers logo of this period acquired its identity color – green. It features orange with yellow outline football in between two orange goalposts, which, according to the developers, stands for strength, excellence, striving for victory, and persistence. There’s also a wordmark “Packers” in large print with the capital “P” initially. Big detailed football with two white stripes and lacing serves as a background. There are no borders, no other outlines – only white color, hint at a free scope for activities.
1956 – 1961
In 1956, the logo featured a quarterback wearing No. 41 behind a yellow football. He strikes a throwing pose and is ready to throw. The backdrop is the state of Wisconsin in green, where the green star in a white circle (Green Bay city) is marked.
The helmet, socks, and the player’s shirt number are white, and his uniform is yellow like football. Besides, the logo features another football, which is bigger and with two distinctive fine lines. Designers placed key elements on it – as evidence of American football’s importance for Wisconsin people.
1961 – 1979
This design of the Green Bay Packers logo is fundamentally reconsidered. The logo is an oval English “G” that looks like a football. This element was added when Lombardi asked Packers equipment manager Gerald “Dad” Braisher to design a logo. Braisher tasked his assistant, St. Norbert College art student John Gordon. Satisfied with a white on the green football-shaped letter “G,” the pair presented it to Lombardi, who then approved the addition.
1980 – present
The last Green Bay Packer’s trademark was introduced in 1980. But the actual year of its creation can be considered 1961 when the emblem’s presentation with a white letter “G” against a dark oval background took place. After 19 years, the artists outlined the oval with a wide yellow line, which was the end of the entire redesign.
The original logo was designed by Gerald “Dad” Braisher and his assistant John Gordon, a student at St. Norbert College. They came up with that famous “G,” gave it a shape, and meticulously worked out small details.
Font and Colors of the Emblem
If until 1955, the team promoted its name, then in the second half of the 1950s, the approach to identity has changed. In 1956, artists focused on depicting a soccer ball, which was changed several times before being rendered as a stylized G. At first, he looked quite realistic. On the side was the state of Wisconsin and the player wearing the number 41 jersey.
Now the emblem is completely different. The ball remains, but now it is made in an abstract style: it can be recognized by the inverted dark green oval, surrounded by a yellow outline. The letter “G” inside is also oval.
The developers of the latest logo decided not to use standard fonts, so they came up with the “G” design themselves. True, not from scratch: they took a chopped typeface as a sample and gave the letter the right proportions.
Color plays a major role in logo design. The palette is selected so that each shade looks harmonious. White smoothly gives way to dark green, which creates the necessary contrast. A bright accent is a yellow stripe, which appeared in 1980.