A badge says a lot about a club. Whether that be a historical meaning of the city or town the team is from, a coat of arms or in some cases famous landmarks. This week we are looking at some of the best nautical football badges.
Corinthians - Despite being founded in 1910 by rail workers, the Sporting Club Corinthians Paulista badge features rope, paddles and an anchor to acknowledge their success in water sports. These elements were added by modernist painter Francisco Robelo in 1939.
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Man City/Man United - Both Manchester clubs sport a three sailed ship on their crest. Taken directly from the City of Manchester’s coat of arms, which is said to celebrate the world-famous ship canal. Recently the ship has come under criticism with links to the slave trade.
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Vasco Da Gama - Formed by Portuguese immigrants & named after a district in Rio, which is named after a 15th-century explorer the Vasco Da Gama crest is nothing short of iconic. The Black Shield which houses a ship with white sails, sailing on a calm sea is a powerful image.
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Hansa Rostock - Paying homage to the maritime links the port city has, their crest features a red ship with a blue sail embossed with a giant dragon on it. Now playing in the German third tier, they regularly get 30,000 turn up for their home games. Now that’s support.
Orlando Pirates - Or course the Orlando Pirates crest features a skull & crossbones. The history of them symbolising the team comes from club officials being impressed with the tenacity & fierceness of pirates in a film they were watching at a cinema in Johannesburg.
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Yokohama F. Marinos - Yokohama is a proud Japanese port city so their football team recognises this not only with their badge but their name too. Their crest sports a giant anchor & features seagulls whilst the word “Marinos” is Spanish for “sailors”.
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Bristol Rovers - Being nicknamed ‘The Pirates’ after the maritime history of Bristol, it makes sense that the club would have a Pirate standing over a football proudly on their crest. The club looked to redesign their crest last year but shelved its plans to do so.
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Plymouth Argyle - Taking their nickname from the pilgrims who set sail on the Mayflower on the 6th of February 1620, which is reflected in the Plymouth coast of arms. The crest of Argyle features the ship proudly within a green shield.
Hibernian - As with many clubs, the Hibernian badge and changed several times. The current iteration does its best to showcase the club's history by featuring an Irish harp, the Edinburgh castle and a ship to signify the port of Leith.
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Rio Ave - The club based at the historic Vila de Grande port is named after the Ave River, which flows through the town and onto the Atlantic Ocean. Their crest features a grand red boat with yellow sails sailing on a green and white sea, which are the colours worn by the team.
Set sail over to our website and drop anchor to check out the thousands of retro shirts we have to offer. We currently have a 15% sale site wide too.
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