Sacramento Kings Logo PNG
Meaning and history
The Sacramento Kings’ primary mark pairs a crown with a basketball, with “Sacramento” and “Kings” set across the design. The crowned-ball idea dates to the Cincinnati Royals era and has survived several changes of city and color. The franchise’s identity has also included a Rochester crest, a cartoon character and a shield, each giving the team a distinctly different visual style.
The franchise began in Rochester in 1923, became the Rochester Royals in 1945, moved to Cincinnati in 1957, and later played as the Kansas City–Omaha Kings and Kansas City Kings before relocating to Sacramento in 1985. The city and team-name changes shaped the lettering on its badges, while the crowned basketball introduced in 1971 became a lasting design reference. The franchise sequence and the crowned-ball lineage are described on designer Todd Radom’s centennial page.
1945 — 1957
The Rochester Royals badge is a pointed shield with a curved ribbon crossing its center. “Rochester” sits above “Royals,” and the limited purple-and-white palette gives the design the character of a civic crest rather than a depiction of basketball. The club entered the National Basketball League as the Rochester Royals in 1945, providing the name shown on the mark.
1957 — 1971
In Cincinnati, the crest gave way to a cartoon basketball character between large “Cincinnati” and “Royals” lettering. The face and outlined type make this the most figurative of the franchise’s historical marks. The cartoon design is commonly associated with “Mr. Basketball”; the crowned-ball mark that followed was a clear move toward a simpler emblem.
1971 — 1972
The 1971 Cincinnati Royals mark divides a compact badge into a red crown-and-wordmark panel above a blue basketball. Designer Robert Grove submitted the crowned-ball concept unsolicited through the club’s public-relations head, and the team adopted it without changes. ESPN’s Uni Watch account cites Cincinnati Enquirer clippings dated April 2, 1971, in reporting the design and announcement.
1972 — 1975
When the team became the Kansas City–Omaha Kings in 1972, the badge replaced “Royals” with “Kings” and placed both city names around the crowned ball. The team split its home schedule between Kansas City, Missouri, and Omaha, Nebraska. The name also distinguished it from baseball’s Kansas City Royals, according to Todd Radom’s franchise history.
1975 — 1985
After Omaha was dropped from the team name in 1975, “Kansas City” appeared above the crown and “Kings” remained across it. The blue basketball and red crown preserve the established color contrast, while the badge’s city lettering is simpler than the two-city version.
1986 — 1994
The heading’s 1986 date differs from the documented relocation year: the Kings moved to Sacramento in 1985, and the crowned-ball mark accompanied the move. This version changes the city lettering to “Sacramento” while keeping the crown, “Kings” panel and blue basketball. KCRA reports that the team’s first Sacramento game was played on October 25, 1985.
1994 — 2016
In 1994, the team replaced the crowned ball with a shield combining a crown, basketball and crossed lances. Black and purple displaced the earlier red-and-blue palette. The Sacramento Bee reported that the shield was retired in April 2016 after 22 years; accounts vary in how they describe its lighter details, so the image is best summarized as a purple-and-black design with pale accents.
2016 — Today
The 2016 redesign returned to the crowned basketball, with “Sacramento” and “Kings” arranged across the front. The Kings unveiled a five-logo family on April 26, 2016, and the primary mark updated the earlier crowned-ball design with a reshaped crown, refined ball and new lettering. ESPN reported that RARE Design worked with the Kings’ creative team, NBA Properties, adidas and Nike on the identity. The 2016 purple-primary treatment was superseded by the 2023–24 color update, but the crowned-ball primary remained part of the identity.
The 2023–24 brand guide makes black the primary color, places Royal Purple PMS 268 in the secondary position, and lists Gray PMS 424 and Royal Blue PMS 294 as tertiary and heritage colors. It also introduces a modernized script wordmark. The guide lists purple as #5B2C81 and gray as #707272, replacing older or unofficially circulated color specifications. Purple remains an accent in the updated hierarchy rather than the primary color.
Uniforms
NBA LockerVision lists a black Icon uniform with a script wordmark across the chest, the primary logo on the shorts and a lion mark on the belt. This describes the documented uniform-logo placements, which are distinct from the crowned-ball primary mark.
Color and wordmark
The Kings’ visual identity has shifted between red and blue and the later black-and-purple palette, while the crowned-ball emblem has provided continuity since its 1971 introduction. In the 2023–24 guide, black leads the palette, purple supplies a secondary royal accent, gray adds a neutral tone, and royal blue is retained as a heritage color. The current system pairs the crowned-ball primary with a separate script wordmark.
View the Sacramento Kings logo archive entry.
Disclaimer
This article is part of the educational resources provided by Logo Index, an independent archive covering logos, visual identities and graphic design history. Sacramento Kings and associated trademarks and brand assets remain the property of their respective rights holders where applicable.
