Arsenal’s crest/badge is, in fact, a logo; logos being a business emblem needing permission to be copied. This has been going on with football badges since the seventies as town crests and arms cannot be copyrighted as arms are awarded to the people of the towns and cities and it was the practice of most clubs to use the town’s coat of arms. Many clubs have adopted this new tradition for obvious reasons even inviting fans to either submit designs or vote for their favourite and some do still use the town’s coat of arms or aspects from it. Arsenal is such a club. They have taken an aspect of the arms that cannot be copyrighted and adapted it so it can. You may remember Arsenal taking a stallholder to court in 2001 for flogging gear outside Highbury he had not sought permission for. So in 2002 they turned the cannon round, stylised it, copyrighted it and they were in business and he was out. (PIC 1)
Two years after the club was formed in 1888, the Royal Arsenal as they were then known adopted their first crest. (PIC 2) This was based on the coat of arms of Woolwich. The club was based in Woolwich and played at among other places Plumstead Common before heading across the river to Highbury in 1913. The crest or badge was made up of what looked like three chimneys but were in fact cannons stood upright. The three cannon barrels symbolise the famous Royal Arsenal, the oldest ammunition factory in England. The leopard’s head on each cannon breach is said to be from the Manorial Arms. Arsenal moved from Woolwich over 100 years ago so it’s nice to see they still retain their history in the badge to this day albeit in a logo. Badges were not deemed as important back in the day as they are now with some clubs not adopting them till the eighties and even then only using them for special occasions like FA Cup Finals. Arsenal did sport a badge during the First World War but it was not worn by the footballers but by the munitions workers at the factory. Security had to be kept so a badge was designed, and during the first and second world wars you could not get into work without one and if you lost yours then you were in the firing line as it was a major breach of security. (PIC 3) As you can see three cannons are used and these are based on real field guns and the fact there are three alludes to the old Woolwich arms.
At the start of the 1922/23 season in the Arsenal v Burnley matchday programme a new badge was revealed. (PIC 4) The cannon motif was retained which was fully understandable. The dictionary says under arsenal, “a factory or stores for weapons and ammunition”, hence the nickname of “The Gunners”, which was also to start appearing on the badges. Instead of the vertical cannons of the Woolwich Royal Arsenal Arms, they used just one pointing to the east and gave it some wheels, well which gave it a more conventional cannon look. This was only used for three seasons though before being fired. At the start of the 1925/26 season, the club changed it to a sleeker, modern piece of artillery pointing westward. (PIC 5) This badge was almost identical to the one used on the factory security badge. The words Gunners did eventually disappear but it remained more or less the same until the 1949/50 season when it changed to what is known as the “VICTORIA CONCORDIA CRESIT” badge, after the motto which appears at the base of the badge. (PIC 6) It means, Victory Grows Out of Harmony, and Arsenal were quite harmonious for a while. There are a lot of Latin mottos throughout this site but do not fear lads and ladettes for I shall translate them into some kind of Engerlish. This design remained more or less the same for the next 54 years, with a few subtle changes in the colour of the club’s name and the cannon to gold and yellow in a couple of later badges. I found another design which I have not been able to find any information on, probably as they would sooner forget about it, it’s not the most handsome of designs I have come across and I am sure you would agree. (PIC 7) It is an obvious test for a new logo that did not go down too well. Then in 2002 as I explained earlier we have the present crest, no badge! Errrrgh logo.
The present more modern looking badge ironically reverts back to the old eastward pointing cannon of 1922. The motto has also been done away with and of late Arsenal have not been that harmonious. I made some videos years ago now to show a TV producer how interesting this subject can be and Arsenal was one of them so if you forgive the quality I will share it with you. You will? Ok then, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDlD5xgk4Z4 Ignore the “Behind the badge” website as it is an old site. Some spiv quickly nicked the name while I was renewing it thinking I would buy it back off him but he wasted his money. The word or name Arsenal originated from the ancient Arabic language and the word Dar-as-sina, meaning a house of industry. It has developed over the years through different languages into the word we know today. As we know Arsenal used to play at Highbury but in 2006 moved into the 60,000 capacity Ashburton Grove Stadium. At least that was what it was called before sponsorship renamed it the Emirates. If the Gunners had stayed put in the first place their local rivals would be Charlton. Instead, Tottenham Hotspur are their local rivals and a bitter rivalry it is too, with players being much maligned for daring to play for the other side. Thanks go to D Miles of Arsenal FC for his help in pointing me in the right direction. For more information on Arsenal then gun down www.arsenal.com
