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 the 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 the unexpected decision of two football fans-competitors – Earl “Curly” Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun. Lambeau solicited funds for uniforms from his employer, 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 list of owners 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 the 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
The team used several different logos before 1961, but the “G” is the only logo that has ever appeared on the helmet. 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 the white background. It goes back to the period of 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 – the name of their sponsoring corporation. All these elements are the same color: capital letters are dark blue with gold outline, and the wordmark “Acme Packing” is gold too. There is the name of the city, state, and 1921 below. The logo features a 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 redesigned Green Bay Packers logo looks pretty much like the previous one. It consists of a white football-shaped “G” on a green oval with a yellow border. These are three identity colors of the team: striving for victory, vigor, strength, excellence, persistence, and playing field.