What’s in a logo? Every team is defined by the logo on the front of their jersey, not the name on the back.
The name on the back changes from year to year. The logo on the front, for the most part, remains the same.
Consistency is key in finding an iconic logo. If your team changes the logo every five years, it was probably bad and it can’t be iconic. Many logos on this list have been around since the dawn of time and have remained the same despite Nike’s input.
Other criteria for this list:
The dad test: I asked my dad (a casual sports fan) to identify logos. If he knew them, they must be memorable. If he didn’t know them, he was lying all those times he said, “Yes” when I asked him, “Do you understand what’s happening?” during a game.
The pop culture test: If the logo appears across multiple pop culture platforms, it’s worthy enough to make the list.
Personal preference: Look, it’s a list. It’s not a ranking, but it’s a list. Every list is flawed and filled with personal preference. Your grocery list is going to look different than my grocery list. I like Oreos. You like graham crackers. You’re weird and wrong. What you deem iconic might be different than what I deem iconic. My bar is set at Billie Kay and Peyton Royce.
A super complicated algorithm: So complicated that I cannot reveal the inner workings of the algorithm to the masses. But just know Daryl Morey’s head would explode if he saw it.
These are in no particular order.