IFK Göteborg, the Swedish football club based in Gothenburg, uses a shield-shaped crest that derives directly from the city’s coat of arms. The club, founded in 1904, has worn the emblem on its home kit since 1973. The crest was most recently refined in 2020 as part of a club-wide effort to standardize its visual identity.
Design and History
The crest first appeared on the club’s kit in 1919, featuring the letters “IFK” above a variant of Gothenburg’s city arms. The design is based on the city’s heraldic coat of arms, which in turn draws on several other heraldic sources. The lion on a field of silver and blue comes from the heraldic arms of the House of Folkung, and the lion holds the Three Crowns of Sweden. The club’s version differs from the city arms in that the lion faces the opposite direction. The traditional colors of all IFK associations are blue and white, and IFK Göteborg is no exception. The club’s first kit used a blue shirt with a single horizontal white stripe and a four-pointed star, one of the IFK association symbols, in white on the chest. The star disappeared in 1910 when the team adopted its striped shirts. [1]
The foundation of the current crest was created in 1979/80. Before that, the club’s official mark had seen large variations in how it appeared in different contexts. For example, IFK Göteborg previously used a lighter blue in the crest and a darker blue in the match shirts during the 2010s. [2]
In January 2020, the club presented an updated crest after a nearly two-year project that analyzed historical match shirts to establish exact color values. The visible adjustments in the updated crest were the removal of the outline around the IFK text, the crowns, and the diagonal “streams.” The details were improved to increase visibility and clarity. The update was developed internally by IFK Göteborg’s historical committee rather than by an external agency. [2]
Since 2006, IFK Göteborg has worn a star above the crest on match shirts, signifying that the club has won ten or more Swedish championship titles. The star is not part of the crest itself and only appears on match shirts. [1]
Meaning and Symbolism
The crest’s heraldic elements carry documented meaning from the city arms. The lion on a field of silver and blue is the heraldic arms of the House of Folkung, and the lion holds the Three Crowns of Sweden, both symbols used in the coat of arms of Sweden. The city arms were granted to Gothenburg by Gustavus Adolphus. [3] The club’s version turns the lion to the other side compared with the city arms. [3]
Typography and Design
The club has officially standardized its two primary colors. After research into historical match shirts and analysis of their colors, IFK-blå (IFK blue) was set to Pantone 7687C, with sRGB values R35 G75 B154 and HEX #234B9A. The lejongul (lion yellow) was set to Pantone 7548C, with sRGB values R252 G189 B50 and HEX #FCBD00. The blue value was analyzed from the stripes of match shirts from the past 40 years, and an average value was established that can now be called IFK-blue. The lion-yellow shade is an interpretation of the yellow, gold, and silver shades previously used in the crest. [4] [2]
The club’s match kit policy states that the home shirt has been blue-and-white striped since 1910, and that the crest has been on the chest of the home kit since 1973. The policy also specifies that if an accent color is absolutely needed, the lion-yellow of the crest should be used. [4]
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