Toronto FC Logo PNG
The sporting history of Canadian Toronto, Ontario, is shaped by Toronto FC, whose logo reflects the city’s cosmopolitanism. Its name, which became part of the emblem, was a tribute to European sports traditions.
Toronto FC: Brand overview
| Founded: | October 2005 |
| Founder: | Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment |
| Headquarters: |
Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Website: | torontofc.ca |
Toronto FC is a professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Toronto FC joined MLS in 2007 as an expansion team and was the first Canadian-based franchise in the league. It also was the thirteenth member of the league. MLS awarded Toronto a team in 2005. Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) paid $10 million for the franchise in October 2005. Richard Peddie, president of MLSE, announced it in the Toronto Star newspaper. MLSE’s immediate goal was the construction of the Exhibition Place stadium to debut in the 2007 season.
The owners trusted the design shop AmoebaCorp with the choice of nickname. Experts developed several options, which were submitted for the public’s judgment in 2006. Initially, they wanted to name the club Toronto Northmen, and 40% of the online vote supported the simple Toronto FC. At that, MLSE prioritized Inter Toronto because it wanted to show the city’s cosmopolitanism and attract the Italians, the Portuguese, and the Colombians to its fanbase.
After the information leakage, there was a lot of negative feedback, and the owners dropped this idea. The name of the MLS thirteenth franchise – Toronto FC – was announced by Larry Tannenbaum, a chairman of MLSE, on May 11, 2006. This is a tribute to European sports traditions, including writing FC instead of “football club.” The club is also referred to as TFC.
The first motto of the team, created by AmoebaCorp, was unveiled the same year: “All For One.” The club owners aspired to unite the football fans, who supported several football clubs at once, with the help of this motto. The official team colors include red as the primary color, with black, grey, and white as secondary colors. This is where its nickname Reds comes from.
Now the franchise is owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, large sports, and commercial real estate company; these enterprises hold their shares: Kilmer Sports (25%), BCE (37,5%), and Rogers Communications (37.5%).
Meaning and History
Paul Beirne, a vice president for business operations, was responsible for the launch and management of Toronto FC, overseeing brand development, positioning, and launching. He is proud of the fact that the club’s logo eluded typical Canadian images. Under his leadership, Major League Soccer designers worked out the concept of the Toronto FC logo and created the preliminary sketches. The final version of the logo was made by design shop AmoebaCorp.
2007 – today
The main Toronto FC logo depicts a heraldic shield. There’s a polygonal line above it, and a stylized maple leaf, which crowns the line. The leaf consists of 4 white pentagons with a red outline – 1 in the middle and three on either side.
What is Toronto FC?
Toronto FC (abbreviated TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer team that competes in MLS, representing the Eastern Conference. Established in 2005, the team plays its matches at BMO Field. The club joined Major League Soccer in 2007, becoming the first franchise from Canada. Its owner is Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.
The scaled-up dark grey letter “T” takes most of the Toronto FC emblem. There are letters “F” and “C” on either side of it. There’s also a wide ribbon with the inscription “Toronto” across the logo. The font is big, with cuts and shadows. White symbols contrast with the red background. The main outlines of the elements on the Toronto logo are red as well. Geometric patterns inside the shield are dark grey, white, and light grey.
Font and Colors
The logo of Toronto FC is far from a classic, even though it includes a traditional symbol for Canada – the maple leaf. However, it’s depicted in a modern style and appears as a composite figure of four pentagons, not the familiar crown-shaped leaf. This was done intentionally to deviate from the clichéd images and present something new that fits with modern trends.
Thus, the designers managed to retain an archetype characteristic of Canadian culture while avoiding plain copying. They proposed a fresh vision of classical symbolism, which adorned the heraldic shield and became the foundation for the club’s visual identification.
The font of the “TORONTO” inscription was developed by the same people who created the graphic part of the emblem. The concept was formulated by the designers of Major League Soccer, while the embodiment was done by the company AmoebaCorp. As a result of their collaborative creativity, they managed to create an unusual typeface with serifs and distinctly geometric shapes. This was also used for the large “T” and the small “FC.”
The unity of all elements of Toronto FC’s visual identification is highlighted by the team colors featured in the logo: white, red (#AB1E2D), dark gray (#3F4743), and gray (#A3AAAD). This demonstrates the conceptual nature of the style and attempts to present the football club as a brand.
Toronto FC color codes
| Upsdell Red | Hex color: | #ab1e2d |
|---|---|---|
| RGB: | 171 30 45 | |
| CMYK: | 0 82 74 33 | |
| Pantone: | PMS 186 C |
| Outer Space | Hex color: | #3f4743 |
|---|---|---|
| RGB: | 63 71 67 | |
| CMYK: | 11 0 6 72 | |
| Pantone: | PMS 446 C |
| Dark Gray | Hex color: | #a3aaad |
|---|---|---|
| RGB: | 163 170 173 | |
| CMYK: | 6 2 0 32 | |
| Pantone: | PMS 429 C |
