Orlando City SC Logo PNG
The Orlando City SC logo features an unconventional color scheme. The modified shield shape references the emblem’s creation history. The lion image is a symbolic tribute to Disneyland, the club’s birthplace. The 21 flashes on the mane of the sun symbolize the club’s position in MLS, and the sun represents the aspiration to represent the entire state.
Orlando City SC: Brand overview
| Founded: | November 19, 2013 |
| Founder: | Zygi, Leonard, and Mark Wilf |
| Headquarters: | Orlando, Florida, U.S. |
| Website: | orlandocitysc.com |
Orlando City SC is an American professional soccer club from Orlando, Florida that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Its predecessor, Orlando City, was a namesake club from USL Pro. The original Orlando City SC was founded as Austin Aztex FC, which moved to Florida in 2011. The Austin Aztex was established in 2008 and played in the USL First Division.
Phil Rawlins, a businessman from the United Kingdom, owns all three clubs. He founded the “Austin Aztex” and then moved the team to Orlando, renaming it after the new location. In 2011, the reorganized team briefly switched to the United Soccer League. On November 19, 2013, “Orlando City SC” was announced as the twenty-first MLS franchise. The team paid $70 million to join the league. The original franchise, which remained in USL Pro, moved to Louisville on June 3, 2014, becoming Louisville City FC.
“Orlando City SC” is owned by a group led by Flavio Augusto da Silva. On February 17, 2013, Brazilian investors became the majority shareholders. The ownership group also includes Brendan Flood (a board member of Burnley Football Club), John Bonner, and Phil Rawlins (founder and president of “Orlando City SC”).
The team’s primary color is purple. When the team was in USL Pro, its colors were red, purple, gold, and white, the same colors used by Italian Serie A club ACF Fiorentina. The color scheme of the team’s Texan predecessor, “Austin Aztex,” was red and white.
Meaning and History
Due to relocations and league changes, the club underwent several rebrandings. During the “Austin” period, the “Orlando City” emblem was an English heraldic shield—a triangular figure with two arches on top. After the franchise relocated to Orlando, the logo changed. The final version was introduced after the team joined MLS in 2014.
What is Orlando City SC?
Orlando City SC is an American professional soccer club from Orlando, Florida. It participates in MLS, representing the Eastern Conference. The team was formed in 2013 and began playing in Major League Soccer in 2015, replacing USL Pro. The team’s home arena is Exploria Stadium. The franchise is owned by businessmen Mark, Leonard, and Wilf Zigi.
2011 – 2014
The Orlando City SC logo from USL Pro was unveiled on the local morning news on the WOFL channel in Orlando at 7:00 a.m. on December 16, 2010. Dixon Minear Design Marketing developed the branding. The logo’s center features a three-headed lion. This image was chosen deliberately: the team is called the “Lions,” which is traditional for the city’s sports organizations.
The roaring predator with a ginger mane bares sharp fangs. Above its head is written “Orlando,” and below, “City.” Both words are white and uppercase, with sharp serifs. The letters “T” and “Y” merge in the upper part.
A ribbed pentagonal star is at the bottom of the “Orlando City” emblem. The cross lines on its faces create a 3D effect. All elements are placed on a triangular Old French heraldic shield. The purple shield has three gold and red borders.
2015 – today
Before entering Major League Soccer, the team had to change its logo and brand. According to an agreement with Major League Soccer, Orlando City changed its logo to match the style of other teams. The franchise owners began searching for a logo designer in November. Wishing to stay true to its roots, the club limited the search to only Orlando enterprises, narrowing down to 10 key agencies. They held an open contest and analyzed over 30 projects.
Eventually, the team chose a local graphic designer and season ticket holder who is a fan of Orlando City. The freelancer with over 20 years of experience began creating conceptual ideas in 2012 when he realized that the club would likely move to Major League Soccer.
The final version of the Orlando City logo was presented on May 13, 2014. The team retained the unique purple-gold color scheme in North American soccer, but the new logo removed all traces of red. The shield is still triangular, as in 2011, but now has a Norman shape. It has two continuous borders—white (inner) and purple (outer)—and the three-sided shield links to previous Orlando City SC logos.
At the center is a lion’s head. It’s associated with Disney’s “The Lion King” because Orlando is the birthplace of Disney World. The thin crown on the lion’s head symbolizes the club’s dominant position in USL PRO in 2013. The symbol of power stands out against negative space, forming the silhouette of a lion’s head.
In the lion’s mane are 21 sun rays – the number symbolizes that the club became the twenty-first team in MLS. Additionally, the mane forms the sun, representing Florida’s nickname as the “Sunshine State.” Thus, integrating the sun into the new logo describes OCSC’s ambition to be a team representing not just the city of Orlando but the state of Florida.
The club’s nickname is written in capital letters under the lion’s head. The designers used an updated font with sharp lines without cuts. The Orlando City logo doesn’t have many details, but the golden elements stand out against the negative purple space.
Orlando City SC: Interesting Facts
Orlando City SC is a soccer team that’s made a big splash in Major League Soccer (MLS) since starting in 2015.
- Starting: They joined the MLS in 2015 but originally started in 2010 in Austin, Texas, before moving to Orlando and changing their name.
- Their Home: They play at Exploria Stadium in downtown Orlando. It opened in 2017 and was designed just for soccer. With over 25,000 seats, it makes games feel close and exciting.
- Fans Who Love Them: They’ve got enthusiastic fans, including groups like The Ruckus and Iron Lion Firm, who make games lively and fun.
- Big Moments: They’ve had some cool achievements, like reaching the U.S. Open Cup semifinals in 2019 and the final of the MLS is Back Tournament in 2020, which shows they’re becoming a strong team.
- Supporting Young Players: Orlando City works hard to help young soccer players improve through its academy and connections with its USL team, Orlando City B. It also does much in its community, like health programs and soccer clinics.
- Team Spirit: Their nickname is the “Lions,” and they wear purple and gold. The lion shows their strength and pride, and the purple makes them stand out.
- World-Class Players: They’ve had famous players worldwide, like Kaká from Brazil, who was a big deal when he joined the team in 2014.
- Women’s Soccer: They also support women’s soccer with the Orlando Pride team, showing they care about growing the sport for everyone.
- More Than a Team: Orlando City, SC, has become part of Central Florida, helping to make soccer more popular and connecting with the community in many ways.
Orlando City, SC, has quickly become a standout club in American soccer. It is known for its exciting soccer, dedicated fans, and big dreams for the future.
Font and Colors
Throughout its history, “Orlando City” has had two graphical symbols, both depicting lion heads on a heraldic shield. They differ only in the type of drawing: if the first version’s style is close to cartoonish, the second prefers minimalism. Moreover, the current emblem looks presentable and contains many symbolic elements – the lion’s head alone, reminiscent of the sun due to its “radiant” mane, is noteworthy.
To highlight the city’s name, designers used the Rams Bold font. The Rams family features sans-serif fonts inspired by the style of the 1930s. The author of the geometric letter set is Ramiz Guseynov, and the publisher is TipografiaRamis.
The logo’s colors match the official club palette: purple (#61259E) and gold (#FFE293). White is present in a small amount: it is used for the shield’s border and the inscription “ORLANDO CITY SC.”