Sports Logo Breakdown of Manchester United

First of all, this is more of a crest than it is a logo, which is the case with most international futbol clubs, particularly those in England. With the scroll peeking out the top-right and top-left, the crest creates an old-fashioned English feel to it.

The badge in the middle of the crest features the red and yellow in dual ways—each as the background and the object. A vessel rests at the top of the badge, sailing from right to left in yellow with red skies behind it. The ship represents the Manchester Trade Center’s port, unique to the area. I love when a logo’s features have special meaning unique to its region subtly injected like Manchester United’s does.

Below the ship is the symbol of the team’s nickname, the Red Devils. This Red Devil, known as Fred, is, fittingly, red, gripping its trident in front of a yellow background. With its sharp tail standing tall behind the body, the Red Devil has a hollow, yet aggressive facial look offer the typical look of intimidation so appropriate for an organization that’s involved in athletics.

In addition to these two central objects, the logo’s top and bottom arches present the club’s name, Manchester on top, United on bottom, with soccer balls connect them at the hips. For several decades the lower arch spelled out “Football Club.” The present form took over in 1988 when the Manchester United became purely a football club, eliminating the need to identify it as such.

The red and yellow colors play well off of each other, never merging too much so as to trick the eyes into seeing orange. I typically prefer when a color dominates a logo and establishes a clear second fiddle and while I’d offer red the title of primary in this image, it isn’t dominant in holding that claim.

I like the simplicity of the name presentation’s font as it is spelled out in both arches. I’d even suggest that the font could have a little more personality if it wanted because the rest of the logo is busy with images here and there and whatnot. However, it stands out and I like the choice to letter with yellow—the color that pops more—and back it up with the red.

Overall, I give this logo a 7.2/10. I love how the ship represents something unique to Manchester’s culture and appreciate the color combination, too. There’s a lot going on with the logo but international logos often feature different styles with the crest template. 

At Awesome Sports Logos, we have several great soccer t-shirts to choose from including the Arizona Pricks, the Tequila Worms and if Manchester United has you in the English spirit than we offer the London Beefeaters Cricket Club t-shirt. Of course, all of these can be purchased at great discounts by joining the T-shirt of the Month Club.