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The famous Manchester United crest is renowned internationally.The iconic red and yellow logo is seen on all of the club's merchandise all over the world but very few people know the history behind the crest or that there have been more than one since the 1950s.Keeping that in mind lets take a look at the different Manchester United badges that have graced the famous red and white jerseys over the years which have been worn by many a legend, right from Sir Bobby Charlton to Ryan Giggs to Adnan Januzaj.
#1 Court of Arms Badge
Before the famous insignia with the Red Devil appeared, Manchester United never had a crest on their jerseys in their formative years much like the other English clubs of that era. United only wore badges during Cup finals and the first major badge that appeared on their jersey was the Manchester City Council court of arms.
The logo contains a globe on the top which represented Manchester’s status as one of the world’s major trading cities and also had a ship which was a reference to the Manchester Ship Canal, one of the major ports in the world. The three yellow slashes below the ship are a reference to the three rivers that run through Manchester which are the Irwell, the Irk and the Medlock.
The logo with the city of arms was famously worn in the 1957 FA Cup against Aston Villa at Wembley which Villa won 2-1. The city of arms logo hasn’t stopped being used by Manchester United who stitch it on the blazer of the club’s manager even today.
#2 1958 FA Cup Badge
This badge worn by Manchester United in the 1958 FA Cup final against Bolton Wanderers is one of their most famous as well as most disputed badges.
The badge was used barely three months after the terrible Munich Air Disaster and many people thought (and still think) that the bird on the badge depicts a phoenix rising from the ashes but this is not true.
In reality the golden bird is an eagle which was featured in the new Manchester court of arms. The eagle is a part of Manchester City’s current badge.
#3 1968 European Cup Badge
United switched back to their old Manchester court of arms badge for the now iconic European Cup Final against a Eusebio led Benfica back in 1968. The badge was the same court of arms insignia with the words E.C.F stitched above it along with the words Wembley 1968 below it to mark the occasion.
The ’68 European badge will always be an iconic one due to United’s 4-1 triumph over Benfica ten years after the 1958 Munich crash. Manchester United became the first English club to win the European Cup which fulfilled their manager Sir Matt Busby’s dream of lifting the trophy.
Few Manchester United badges are as iconic as the 1968 one that conquered Europe that year.
#4 1960\'s MUFC Badge
This version of the badge was designed sometime in the 1960’s. It was the first time the words “Manchester United Football Club” were used but the logo only appeared on the official club documents and not the club jerseys.
It was only in 1971 that the badge appeared on the player jerseys. This badge borrows heavily from the court of arms and features the ship which is a nod to Manchester being a major trading power and the three slashes which are said to represent the city’s three rivers.
The two white roses on the sides represent the red roses of Lancashire but they were not coloured red for unknown reasons and are often mistaken for Yorkshire roses.
#5 1970\'s Badge - Red Devils
It was sometime during the 1970’s when the Red Devils first appeared on Manchester United’s badge.
The term “Red Devils” arose in the 1960s after United’s legendary manager Sir Matt Busby heard a French journalist use the term and thought that it would be more intimidating than the “Busby Babes”.
The red devil finally made its way to United’s crest in the 1980’s and appeared below the ship. The Lancashire roses were replace by two footballs which are seen on the clubs crest even today.
#6 1978-1979 Badge
Admiral started producing Manchester United’s kits from 1978 and made a few changes like changing the colour of the ship from yellow to red and added a boot on each side of the crest’s upper half.
The words “Centenary” took the place of “football club” at the bottom in order to commemorate a hundred years of the club's existence.
#7 1984-1992 Badge
German sportswear manufacturer Adidas produced Manchester United’s kit from 1984-1992 and made some notable changes to the club's crest. The ship on the badge was made bigger and the boots on the crest that were introduced by Admiral now featured Adidas’ famous three stripes.
This new designed lasted for eight whole years until it was changed again.
#8 1992 Badge
Umbro became Manchester United’s kit manufacturer in 1992, the year the Premier League was introduced, and made a few changes of their own.
The boots were removed from the crest and the background was changed from white to red.
#9 1993 Badge
The crest underwent another change in 1993.
The white lettering was replaced by golden along with the ship which was also coloured in gold.
#10 1998-Present Badge
Few Manchester United badges have attracted more attention than this one which was introduced in 1998.
The words “football club” were removed from the crest in order to make Manchester United a more commercial and marketable brand. Many fans were angered by this change as they didn’t want their club's symbol to become a marketing tool but the crest stuck.
Recently, the club’s chief executive Ed Woodward stated that the words “football club" will be added to the club's crest once again in the near future.
