Minnesota United FC Logo PNG
The Minnesota United FC logo showcases the club’s unique identity. Designers employed metaphorical imagery to convey the club’s story and its connection to the home state. The smooth lines and curves symbolize how easily the players claim victories.
Minnesota United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The club plays in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference. It began competing as the league’s 22nd club, replacing the North American Soccer League (NASL) franchise. The previous franchise with the same name was established in 2010. Initially, the National Sports Center owned it, and it was known as NSC Minnesota. In 2011, NASL became its temporary owner because NSC’s capital was less than $20 million, which didn’t meet the accepted standards.
On January 9, 2012, the club announced its new name. The nickname “Stars” became part of the official name. That same day, the new Minnesota Stars FC logo, featuring the state motto “L’Etolie du Nord,” was unveiled. On November 9, Bill McGuire acquired the team. On March 5, 2013, the team was renamed Minnesota United FC. The word “United” signifies the unity of a wide range of fans and symbolizes the sports union of the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
On March 25, 2015, Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber announced Minnesota United as the league’s 23rd club. However, the club joined the league earlier than planned (in 2017) and finished 22nd, behind the Los Angeles team. It retained the intellectual property rights, including the old name, logo, and color palette. The team’s colors are sky blue, gray, and black, with a red accent.
As before, a group of owners led by Bill McGuire owns the franchise. The group includes Wendy Carlson Nelson, Glen Nelson, Glen Taylor, Jim Pohlad, and the Pohlad family, who also own other Minnesota sports organizations.
Meaning and History
In 2010, NSC Minnesota used a blue-and-yellow logo shaped like a triangular shield with a star. In 2012, along with the new name, Minnesota Stars FC received an updated logo featuring the inscription “L’Étoile du Nord” and a soccer ball. Another logo change occurred in 2013 when the NASL team became known as Minnesota United FC. The Minnesota United FC logo remained the same when the franchise transitioned to Major League Soccer (MLS), with only minor details changing.
What is Minnesota United FC?
Minnesota United FC is a professional soccer club in the USA, based in Saint Paul, and represents the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The team was established in 2015 and began playing in 2017, replacing the NASL franchise of the same name. Home matches are held at Allianz Field, and Bill McGuire owns the team.
2010 – 2012
The first version of the NSC Minnesota Stars emblem is designed as a blue shield with yellow and white details, resembling the sports badges of American teams. The shield’s background color transitions from dark blue at the bottom to a brighter shade at the top, highlighting the energy of the soccer club founded in 2010.
At the top is the inscription “NSC,” set in bold yellow sans-serif letters with a slight three-dimensional effect. Just below is the word “Minnesota,” written in simple, thin white letters spaced widely apart.
In the center is a yellow star crossed by two diagonal lines. It became a symbol of the team’s determination and its connection to the sports center in Minnesota. Beneath the star, the club’s founding year, “EST. 2010,” is written in neat white font.
The logo has a sporty, energetic look, reflecting the team’s focus on active play and pursuing set goals.
2012 – 2013
The 2012 logo update made the Minnesota Stars emblem less formal and more animated. The overall colors remained unchanged – blue, yellow, and white. However, all lines and shapes became flatter and smoother.
The central yellow star became larger, with light strokes inside it adding a sense of motion. Five light-blue triangles surround the star, slightly refreshing the image.
The club name “STARS” is set on a blue arched ribbon below the star, in a clean, precise font. At the very bottom, on a small yellow field, is the “FC” designation. At the top, “MINNESOTA” is written in white block letters.
Another notable element is the French italic inscription “L’Étoile du Nord” (“The North Star”) on the upper part of the yellow frame. The phrase echoes Minnesota’s official motto, reminding us where the team is from and the region it represents. The logo appears athletic and light, fitting for a soccer club with a youthful audience.
2013 – today
Minnesota United decided to completely redesign its logo after joining a new league and hired the agency Zeus Jones for the project. Instead of the familiar star in the center, the emblem now features a black loon with a red eye and eleven spread feathers, representing the number of players on the field. The loon was chosen not just as a striking image, but because it is Minnesota’s official bird.
Three diagonal stripes form the logo’s shield background. The top and bottom stripes are gray, referencing Minnesota’s Iron Range region. The central blue stripe symbolizes the Mississippi River, which separates the state’s two largest cities: Minneapolis and St. Paul.
A six-pointed star appears in the top left corner, reflecting the state’s motto, “L’étoile du Nord” (The North Star). The club name “Minnesota United FC” sits at the bottom of the shield, set in a clean, italicized, sans-serif, all-caps font.
This emblem is highly local, connecting the team to the region’s nature and culture, and emphasizing local identity without overloading the design with unnecessary decorative elements.
Font and Colors
Minnesota United FC has changed its emblem several times, but fans widely recognize the current one. At the center of the logo is a loon, a bird important to Minnesotans. It inspired the team’s nickname, Loons, so placing it on the emblem was a logical choice.
The emblem’s design style is abstract. The loon is depicted as a black silhouette with a red eye, standing with its wing feathers raised high. Above it is a six-pointed gray star. This is the North Star, a symbol of navigation and an important element in Minnesota’s symbolism.
The lower part of the shield sometimes features the abbreviated club name, Minnesota United FC. The inscription is italicized, and the local studio Process Type Foundry developed the sans-serif letters. The font is simple and stylish, and the letters “MNUFC” (a shortened version of the name used in an alternate visual mark) are evenly spaced against the emblem’s background. An interesting detail is that the lower bar of the letter “F” is exactly half the length of the upper one.
The shield’s background uses two calm colors. Light gray reflects the Iron Range region, while the sky-blue stripe represents the Mississippi River. Black is used for the bird and text, while red appears only in the loon’s eye. This is the only contrasting element, making the emblem visually striking.