Brentford Football Club, the West London club nicknamed “The Bees,” has used a bee as the central motif of its crest since the 2017/18 season. The current badge is a red roundel featuring a single stylised honeybee, with the club name and founding year 1889 running around the edge in white.[1]
Design and History
Brentford’s current crest was unveiled in November 2016 and adopted from the 2017/18 season, replacing a shield-shaped design that had been in use since 1993.[1] The redesign was developed over an 18-month period by London-based brand consultancy Article.[2] Illustrator Peter Horridge was commissioned to draw the bee.[2]
The club stated that the final crest design was “loosely based” on the crest used from 1972 to 1975 and the 1960s Brentford Supporters Club badge.[3] The previous crest, introduced in 1993, featured a shield shape with Middlesex arms, a beehive, and detailed illustrations, which the club felt was not “fit for purpose in a digital age where impact has to be instant.”[1] Chief executive Mark Devlin described the change as “not revolution, it’s part of the Club’s evolution,” noting it was part of progress ahead of the club’s stadium move.[3]
The 1972-75 crest referenced by the club had itself been short-lived, in part because it mistakenly used 1888 instead of 1889 as the year of the club’s formation.[4] The current design corrects this with the accurate founding year of 1889.[1]
Upon its release, the new bee illustration drew criticism from some supporters who noted the insect appeared to have only four legs rather than a bee’s six, with some fans suggesting it looked more like a wasp.[5]
Meaning and Symbolism
The bee has been central to Brentford’s identity since the club adopted “The Bees” nickname in the early part of the 20th century.[6] The club has confirmed that the bee featured within the crest is a buff-tailed bumblebee, a pollinator species native to west London.[7]
Article co-founder Joe Ryrie said the new design was “simpler, bolder and more recognisable” than the previous crest while remaining true to The Bees’ heritage.[8] The bee illustration was given angular edges to create a more “competitive” feel than previous iterations of the logo.[8] Subtle stripes can also be seen in the background of the crest, referencing the red and white stripes on the team’s home shirts.[8]
Typography and Design
The club’s official crest uses a clean, legible typeface, with the numbers in “1889” drawing inspiration from historic football typography.[2] The colours of the crest mimic the red, black and yellow of the previous design.[2]
In 2020, Bath-based agency Thisaway developed a broader brand identity for the club built around the bee from the crest. The agency created a series of patterns inspired by the bee’s wings, sting and stripes, and worked with typographer Marc Rouault to develop “Sting,” a bespoke typeface for the club. Each character features sharp edges to reflect the design of the bee, while negative spaces within the letters replicate the shape of the bee’s sting.[9]
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