The Phoenix that lived on United's badge - or was it?

To begin, we have to understand that the Manchester United Football Club’s first team seldom played with kits with badges, before the 1970′s. Before that era, only a few jerseys can be picked up having a logo or a club crest woven on to the chest. They did display the Lancashire rose on certain occasions, and on other, we could see the City of Manchester’s coat of arms adorned by the Reds. These were generally FA Cup or European championship finals. Yet, none of these badges have been inscribed in the hearts of fans, as the badge that the team wore during their emotional trip to Wembley in 1958- as they recovered miraculously from the Munich disaster to face Bolton Wanders.

The infamous "Phoenix" badge.

Therefore, that badge is often assumed to be the mark of a Phoenix, rising from it’s ashes- spitting fire and gaining life from the grim and dreary clutches of death. The crest is nowadays looked on as a tribute to the tenacity the club and Jimmy Murphy, to have steadied ship during such turbulent times and have brought the club onward to greater glories. The mythical bird is also looked upon as signs of rebirth and rekindling of hopes and dreams of the Old Trafford faithful- but in reality, the bird that’s taking flight on the badge is not a Phoenix at all.

United- The BBC drama.

The myth of the phoenix has been made popular by the BBC drama titled “United”, which was a re-enactment of the events that occurred in Munich and beyond. Though the film itself was rich and beautiful, they did misplace the fact of the badge quite naively. It is shown that Sir Matt (Dougary Scott) enters the dressing room of the players right before the final and tells them that the badge they are wearing is that of the mythical bird. Whether it was done so by mistake or by purpose (to give the players a moral boost) is not really known, but it had definitely deluded some fans. The bird on the crest that night was actually an Eagle. And to justify that fact, we have to go back in time.

The first Coat of Arms granted to the city of Manchester was that of a Shield supported by a lion and an antelope, which had a ship drawn upon it, and a globe up top- regarding the city’s seaways link and global trade. Man United wore this badge to the 1948 FA cup final. In 1958 the city of Manchester’s coat of arms was redesigned by a man named Mr H. Ellis Tomlinson. The new design now sported a helmet in between the globe and the shield, and emerging out of the helmet on either side was a mantling. Now the mantling itself- or the scarf flowing out of the helmet had small details that are not always visible in small representations, but if you look closely, you can see the very Eagle sitting atop a mural crown. This design repeats itself often on the mantling. This eagle design, which was included in the 1958 city coat of arms was the badge that United wore to the 1958 FA cup final.

The 1958 coat of arms, and the eagle design.

According to a museum report in 1958, the eagle was said to be symbolic of Manchester’s connection with ancient Rome. The letter ‘M’ in the centre is a symbol relating the association with the past lords of the manor, and the circle around it is symbolic of Ringway. The mural crown, however was supposed to be a sign of the municipal corporation. This badge was then allotted by the town clerk to be worn by the football team in the final. It was not much different from adorning the coat of arms, as they had done earlier- as the badge represented the city just as the coat of arms would otherwise.

The use of this badge on the club’s kit was announced on the 24th of April, in the Manchester Evening news. This was a good 9 days before the FA cup final, to be held on the 3rd of May. The newspaper also mentions, “Although it looks fittingly like a phoenix rising out of the ashes it is in fact a golden eagle on a mural crown.” making it seem that it was the source of the rumors about the mythical bird in the first place.

The Report of the Badge.

Hence, history busts the myth of the Phoenix on Man United’s badge. It also discards another theory that the eagle was a bald eagle that symbolized the American trade fair that was taking place in Manchester at that time. This eagle badge was worn by Manchester United only one time in their history. Additionally, this is the same bird that the team from ‘cross town- Manchester City, currently base their club crest upon.

Yet, if you look back, you would say that Manchester United’s comeback is very likely to that of a real Phoenix rising from it’s ashes. And looking at United’s glorious past and present, you could always say- that even if the Red Devils never had a Phoenix woven into their chest, they do have an undying spirit embedded into their heart.