For modern football supporters, it can feel as though the badge worn upon a football team’s shirt has always looked the way it’s looked. Moreover, there can be a sense that change is inherently bad, so people don’t like the idea of a club like Chelsea changing the badge that is a part of the club’s existence.
Things weren’t always like that, however, with public opinion being a lot less important to the management of a football club during the more formative years of the game. Things would be chopped and changed seemingly on a whim, with the following being a look at the evolution of the Chelsea badge.
The Early Version
Chelsea are not a particularly old club, relatively speaking, having been formed in 1905. Gus Mears was the founding father of the Blues, discussing with other founders what name they should go for and eventually deciding upon Chelsea after the part of London in which it was based, eschewing the opportunity to opt for the likes of Stamford Bridge FC, Kensington FC and FC London. The first ever badge was circular in nature, with a gold border sitting on top of a wide blue circle, within which was another gold circle that had a line coming off it making it look almost like a Q.
Within the blue circle was ‘CHELSEA FOOTBALL CLUB’ in gold writing, but it was what was within the inner white circle that is arguably the most interesting. Chelsea Pensioners have long been an important part of London’s military history, so it is perhaps no surprise that the club chose to feature the image of one on its badge. The old man, with grey sideburns, wore a maroon-coloured military outfit, complete with medals on the righthand side as you looked at it. It is where the club earned its nickname of ‘the Pensioners’ from, thanks to the image on that first badge.
The club actually had a number of different versions of what was essentially the same badge. Another one, for example, had the blue circle, but the outside and inside borders were much more of a bright yellow. Similarly, CHELSEA FOOTBALL CLUB was written in the same colour, whilst the year of the club’s founding, 1905, was in the middle at the bottom of the circle. Meanwhile, the pensioner in the centre had a blue outfit on, a fuller beard and the trim and medals were yellow. There was also a badge that was all white and blue, with a much fuller beard still on the pensioner.
The Initials
Whilst some other clubs tended to chop and change their badge on a regular basis during the early years, the same wasn’t true of Chelsea. In fact, it took until 1952 before the Blues decided to make an alteration to the badge, with what they brought in being a radical change indeed. The shape of it was of that of a shield, which was in blue with a white line before another blue line on the inside of it. They were in place around the letter F, which had a small c in the middle of it and then a larger C going around that, spelling out the initials of Chelsea Football Club.
The Introduction of the Lion
Having not done much alteration to the badge within almost the first 50 years of Chelsea’s existence, the one that was just the club’s initially only lasted for a year before another rebrand was decided upon. It was 1953 when a version of the badge that would be slightly more recognisable to modern fans was brought in, going back to the circular design. The border was yellow, with a blue circle inside it before another yellow border was in place, on the bottom half of which were the words ‘CHELSEA FOOTBALL CLUB in yellow’. On the top were the Tudor Roses.
It was what was in the middle that would be the basis for the club’s badge design moving forward, with the Lion Rampant looking over its shoulder off to the right being the centrepiece. The lion was holding a yellow staff, whilst there were red accents in place for the likes of its tongue and nails. It was designed by Ted Drake, who had become the club’s manager in 1952, and it began to be worn on match day shirts from 1960. It was seen as a good luck badge, bearing in mind the fact that Chelsea won the top-flight title a year after it was brought in.
There was another version of the badge that was also used, essentially being the same as the first one but with a few cosmetic alterations. For starters, the yellow was slightly duller, whilst the Tudor Roses at the top of the badge were made red. The Lion Rampant continued to look over its right shoulder, complete with the red accents, but it was filled out to be much more bulky-looking than the original had done. The Lion Rampant also still held onto the staff, so it wasn’t a radical departure from the first version of the badge, but was seen as more fitting for the club.
A More Simplistic Look
As difficult as it might be for modern supporters to understand, Chelsea decided to get rid of the Lion Rampant and the badge that was steeped in history for a much more simplistic version in 1964. This time it was a return to the initials of ‘CFC’, written in a curly font in white on a blue background. The badge was not overly popular, even though the club enjoyed on-pitch success with it. They finished in the top five of the First Division twice, won the League Cup and made it to the final of the FA Cup as well as the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup whilst they used the badge.
The Lion Returns
The Lion Rampant has been an important part of Chelsea’s folklore from the moment that it was introduced, so it is perhaps not all that surprising that the simpler design only lasted for three years before a return to the lion in 1967. Initially, the design saw the Lion Rampant, still looking back over to the right, with red claws and tongue, holding a red staff. The lion itself was blue, as were the initials CFC that it almost appeared to be standing on top of. The inspiration for it had been the Coat of Arms of Chelsea, albeit with the Tudor Roses removed altogether.
There were numerous variations of the badge used by the club, which included one that was in white on a blue background instead. After winning the FA Cup in 1970, there was also one in which the Lion Rampant was scaled down, in order to allow for the outline of the FA Cup and the year of 1970 to appear underneath it. There was also a version with a slimmer looking Lion Rampant, still stood on the letters CFC but with two blue and white stars on either side of it. The various versions were used until 1986, at which point another major change to the badge was brought in.
Changing the Lion’s Shape
In 1986, clothing manufacturer Le Coq Sportif began making the club’s official kits and chose to make a big alteration to the look of the badge. It went back to being circular, boasting a royal blue background, on which were the letters CFC in white, with the first C almost on top of and slightly to the left of the F, whilst the second C was next to the F. This was important because it created room for another Lion Rampant to seemingly be lying, although all you could really see was its head, looking to the left, as well as a couple of its legs splayed out to give the image of lying down.
That version of the badge, with its red, white and blue colour scheme, lasted until 1995. That was three years after the foundation of the Premier League, at which point the Blues, who had bounced around between divisions, chose to keep the design but change the colours. The background became white, whilst the lion was blue and yellow in nature. It maintained the same pose, seemingly sitting on top of the letters CFC, which were also in the same positioning as with the badge when it was white letters and a red lion sat on top of them with splayed legs.
More tweaks to the design followed. In 1997, the option was to offer something that was considered to be more visually bold. The circular nature of the badge was back, with a darker blue on offer and the letters returning to white. The lion, meanwhile, maintained its pose but was back to being a stronger yellow. In 1999, that changed once more, with the background returning to white and the letters and lion all becoming a dark blue. The lion’s look was much clearer to see, complete with a mane and what looked teeth on offer. But they didn’t stop there.
Two more versions of that same design were used between 2003 and 2005, initially with a circular design that was filled in and sky blue. The lion and letters went back to being white, with the lion becoming less distinct once more. Then there was a final design that continued to be circular thanks to a thin line on the outside, white in the middle and the letters and lion all in sky blue. This came at a time when Roman Abramovich had bought the club and the Blues began to experience more success on the pitch, including back-to-back Premier League titles.
The Modern Design
In 2005, a badge that was extremely similar to what we see on the Chelsea shirts today was introduced. It was brought in in order to celebrate the club’s centenary, seeing a blue circle with gold borders and the word CHELSEA on the top in white, also with a gold border. Along the bottom were the words FOOTBALL CLUB, slightly smaller, but also in white with gold trim. In the middle of the circle were two gold and white footballs, as well as a gold and white Tudor Rose, whilst on the outside of the circle were the words ‘100 YEARS’ at the top and ‘CENTENARY 1905-2005’ on the bottom, along with gold lines.
In the middle of the circle, the Lion Rampant made a return, in blue with a gold tongue, holding a blue staff with a circular top. The lion also appeared to be casting a shadow. Obviously the badge was only used for a year, given the fact that it was for the club’s centenary, but it was the basis for the design that we know of the club in the modern era. The words ‘100 YEARS’ and ‘CENTENARY 1905-2005’ have been removed, as have the gold lines. The blue circle is still there, however it has a bolder gold outline to it and the footballs and Tudor Roses have been turned red with white trim.
In the middle of the top of the circle is the word CHELSEA, which is white with a gold border, whilst that white and gold border colouring is also used for the FOOTBALL CLUB that runs along the bottom. In the middle, the Lion Rampant remains, in blue and still casting a shadow and holding a staff with a circular top. The lion’s tongue, which some say is it breathing fire, remains in red. It is likely that there will be a version to celebrate 120-years for the 2025-2026 season, but as with the 100-year celebration, it will not remain past the end of the season.