The Football Association of Norway, known in Norwegian as Norges Fotballforbund (NFF), governs football in Norway. Its visual identity consists of two distinct marks: an organizational logo and a separate crest used on the shirts of all Norwegian national teams.
Design and History
On 12 December 2014, the NFF unveiled a new visual identity developed with Scandinavian Design Group (SDG) in cooperation with Norsk Design- og Arkitektursenter. The project included both a new association logo and a new national team crest.[1] The work was part of a broader brand process that had run for about two and a half years, with financial support from UEFA.[2]
The new organizational logo is a modernized version of its predecessor, featuring the NFF monogram in a round shape.[3] According to the NFF, the round form symbolizes a shared vision that football should be for everyone, with integration as a core value in Norwegian football.[4] The redesign also unified the federation’s visual system: instead of 18 different district logos, all districts would now use the NFF logo with the district’s name attached.[5]
The national team crest introduced in 2014 replaced the plain Norwegian flag that had appeared on players’ chests since the 1920s, with the flag first appearing on shirts in 1931.[2] The new crest has a classic football badge shield shape bordered in gold, with the Norwegian flag as its core design element.[4] It draws inspiration from the period when national team players wore Norway’s coat of arms on their chests.[1]
The 2014 crest was not the federation’s first attempt at replacing the flag. In 2008, the NFF introduced a Viking-style dragon emblem that omitted the flag entirely. The design was poorly received, and within days the federation scrapped it and brought back the flag while reassessing.[2] NFF general secretary Kjetil Siem said the federation learned from that process and was explicit that the flag had to be included in the new design.[2]
Meaning and Symbolism
The national team crest features two crowned lions facing each other, holding a small NFF emblem between them. NFF officials described the logo as inspired by the Norwegian coat of arms, with the lion serving as a ceremonial symbol rather than a reference to the animal itself.[2] The crest is used by both the men’s and women’s national teams as well as age-restricted national teams.[1]
According to the NFF, the new crest symbolizes community in a multicultural Norway, while the flag represents pride and cohesion of country.[4] The colors of the organizational logo symbolize the NFF’s value of being Norwegian regardless of ethnicity and religious conviction.[4]
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