The Cleveland Charge are the NBA G League affiliate of the Cleveland Cavaliers, founded in 2011 as the Canton Charge and part of Rock Entertainment Group.[1] The franchise relocated to Cleveland in 2021, keeping the Charge name and its wine and gold colors while updating the logo to reflect its new home.[2]
Design and History
When the Cavaliers launched their D-League franchise in Canton in 2011, the team name, colors and logo were unveiled together. The original Canton Charge logo featured a cavalier brandishing a sword in attack mode, colored in the Cavaliers’ familiar wine and gold.[3] The Cavaliers’ marketing team worked with New York-based Cenergy Communications to produce the logo, after sifting through roughly 1,000 name possibilities before settling on “Charge.”[3]
In July 2021, the franchise announced it would move to Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center and become the Cleveland Charge. The team kept the Charge name and the sword-wielding Cavalier logo, adding “Cleveland” to the mark in the traditional wine and gold colors.[4] The swashbuckling Cavalier continued to lead the Charge forward, with his blade now positioned over the new Cleveland namesake.[2]
In June 2025, the Charge introduced what the franchise called its most significant brand evolution in its 14-year history, a new logo set celebrating the team’s connection to the Cavaliers and the aesthetics of its home venue, Public Hall.[1] The redesign was a collaboration between the internal creative team at Rock Entertainment Group and Supper Works, a creative agency specializing in creative direction, design and brand strategy.[1]
Meaning and Symbolism
The 2025 primary and global icons feature a Cavalier carrying a banner reading “Cleveland,” designed to emphasize the “LAND” moniker that connects the franchise to the city that has been home since 2021.[1] Among the most significant new elements is the addition of a horse to the primary icon. The horse acts as a call to action, inviting fans to join the Charge as they push forward, and serves as a symbol of the Charge’s support of the Cavaliers.[1] As an additional nod to the affiliation, the inclusion of a shield represents an important motif in Cavaliers branding history.[1]
The team also introduced a refreshed tagline, “Charge On,” signaling the team’s march forward into a new era of Cleveland basketball.[1]
Typography and Design
When the franchise became the Cleveland Charge in 2021, the Charge script font remained in use, with bladed angles reflecting the always forward-moving nature and drive of the franchise.[2] The script “C” by itself or brandished with the sword was used to represent both aspects of the alliterative name.[2]
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