Which Logo Do You Prefer for Los Angeles Football Club?

New MLS team Los Angeles Football Club, scheduled to launch in 2017, have finally gone ahead and registered trademarks for two crests — one of which could be adorned on club jerseys, merchandise and anything and everything LAFC.

Headed by film producer Peter Guber, former NBA executive Tom Penn, investor Henry Nguyen, tycoon Vincent Tan and a string of minority investors too many to name, LAFC will let their fans decide in December which crest they’ll use — presumably from the two featured below that the club and MLS has proceeded to get trademarked.

Los Angeles Football Club — Logo 1

Los Angeles Football Club — Logo 2

The two crests themselves differ greatly in style and appearance, although both do make use of the franchise’s set color scheme of red and black.

Rather interestingly, the two crests differ on the franchise name abbreviation embedded into the design. For example the first trademarked design has Los Angeles FC embedded into the crest whilst the second design has Los Angeles SC. It seems as if the franchise are as yet undecided on the direction they want to go in, at least in terms of calling themselves a football club or a soccer club.

In terms of appearance, logo #1 is a much more soccer-specific logo in that it replicates the general idea of what you would see from a team crest in Europe’s leagues. The black and red color scheme is fully utilized with a gold border going around the outside of the crest, almost to form a shield shape. The text ‘Los Angeles’ is centered in bold white typeface, which draws the eye straight to it.

There is also the inclusion of three separate animals in the crest. There is a lion, a bear and an eagle all positioned in front of a castle. The bear has been taken from the flag of California. The crest, I can liken it to most is that of Le Mans FC in France, which utilizes a similar shape and color scheme.

One final point to make on Logo #1 is the inclusion of a clip-art soccer ball right at the bottom. This is an issue that came up in a number of fan comments when discussing logos for the new franchise online. There is a feeling that such clip-art is no longer necessary and that the logo itself should be recognizable enough with the need to include a soccer ball image.

The second crest is much more generic and simple in its design. The black, red and gold color scheme is again used in a shield-like shape. However, there is the inclusion of a red cross as the main design feature of the crest.

The different quadrants created by the centered cross are each filled with a different emblem. The top left has a star, the top right a castle tower with a bear in the bottom right and a lion in the lower left. This is slightly similar to Logo #1 but in a different design.

The fans will probably have the final say on the choice of crest but personally both have their merits. Logo #2 is more generic but rather more modern in its design. It does however seem less of a soccer crest and more of a generic logo.

Logo #1 is much more centric to the sport itself and likely to be the more popular choice. Its connection with European soccer is something that supporters may be in favor of, and it is certainly something that would instantly make you think of LAFC upon first glance.