For many supporters, the badge that appears on the shirt of the football club that they support is among the most important piece of clothing around, representing everything that they stand for. In the case of Manchester United, the badge has undergone some minor alterations over the years, but remains the place that many players will touch lovingly in the wake of scoring a goal or winning a match, so as to let the Old Trafford faithful know that the player in question loves playing for them. It is also a big part of the reason why the team is known as the Red Devils.
The Newton Heath Badges
During football’s more formative years, clubs would often not have a badge of any sort. In fact, the badge and the club crest would often get talked about interchangeably, largely because shirts wouldn’t really feature a badge in the same way that they do nowadays. When Manchester United was formed as a football club, it was actually known as Newton Heath and the club’s original colours were green and gold. The badge used was one that had a green background, with the words NEWTON HEATH L&YR F.C. written in white at the top, with ESTABLISHED 1878 underneath.
There was then a green locomotive on a yellow background, with the colours coming from the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, through which the club was formed in the first place. The train, of course, is also representative of that. The colours have appeared through Manchester United’s history, such as in 1992 when the away kit was half green and half yellow, or when the supporters protested against the ownership of the club by the Glazers and waved green and yellow scarves. The colours continued to be used during the club’s more formative years, including with the second badge.
This was much more of a traditional-looking badge in its nature, with green leaves on either side of a yellow crest that had a green border. On the top of the crest was a different colour yellow used for a football, once again with green borders. On the crest were the words Newton Heath in green, under which was written Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, with 1878 under that. There was then a pendant with a dark green top, along with alternating lines of green and yellow. It was introduced 13 years after the first badge, lasting until 1902 when a much more seismic change was to come.
The First Manchester United Badge
It was in 1902 that Newton Heath became Manchester United. The change came as the club was on the verge of financial collapse, leading to a fundraising event being hosted. The dog of the club captain, Harry Stafford, reportedly wandered off and arrived at the door of a local businessman named John Henry Davies. He liked the dog and agreed to invest in the club if he could keep it, joining up with three other local businessmen in order to keep it afloat. It was under this new ownership that the club became known as Manchester United, changing the colours to red, white and black.
The club’s first badge could best be described as ‘busy’. In the middle of it was a shield, at the top of which was a ship on water, whilst the bottom of the shield was red with yellow lines running through it. On the left was a white dragon with yellow horns, standing on its hind legs and with a chain keeping it tied down. On the right-hand side was a yellow lion, with a red crown and red tongue. Both animals had a yellow rose on their shoulders. All of them sat on green grass, under which was a banner read CONCILIO ET LABORE, the Latin motto of the city of Manchester.
On top of the shield, which looked as if it was being held in place by the dragon and the lion, was a black helmet with gold trim. Out of this, on both sides, were yellow and red leaves, whilst on the very top was what looked to be a globe, complete with Manchester bees, there to represent the working-class nature of the city. Concilio et labore translates to ‘by wisdom and effort’, whilst the ship on the shield was a representation of the Manchester Ship Canal, which was crucial to the cotton trade of the city. The three yellow lines on the shield represented the three rivers of the city.
A Move Towards the Modern
In 1960, Manchester United introduced a new look to their badge, which would be more recognisable to the modern-day supporter. It boasted the more rounded shape that we’re used to today, with the words MANCHESTER UNITED running along the top and FOOTBALL CLUB on the bottom. The two banners upon which those words were written, red on the top and white on the bottom, were joined together by a Lancashire rose on either side. In the middle stood a shield, which had a ship on the top and a red background with three black lines on the bottom.
That new badge lasted for a decade, with another big change coming about in 1970. Finally, the colour scheme that modern supporters are more used to seeing was brought in, seeing the banners on the top and bottom being red, whilst the writing of MANCHESTER UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB was in yellow. The ship remained at the top of the shield, as did the three lines, but both of them were yellow on the red background. The two banners were separated not by the Lancashire rose any longer, but instead by an old-fashioned-looking football.
Today’s Badge
There was to be one more badge used on the Manchester United kit before the one that we know today came into being. It was used for the first time in 1973 and kept the same red and yellow colour scheme as before, but the three lines representing the rivers of the city were replaced with a red devil for the first time. The devil appeared to be standing on one leg, holding a trident. The banners still had MANCHESTER UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB written in yellow on a red background, whilst a ball was still in place to join them both together.
In 1998, after the club had enjoyed several years of unprecedented success in the reasonably young Premier League, the colours of the badge were made more vibrant. The yellow, which had appeared slightly washed out before, became bolder, whilst the red was also a much clearer version of it. The words FOOTBALL CLUB were removed, with MANCHESTER being on the top banner and UNITED appearing on the bottom one. Other than the colour change and the differing words, the badge was otherwise much the same as the one that had come before.