The Kelowna Rockets are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kelowna, British Columbia, competing in the Western Hockey League (WHL). The club’s visual identity has undergone two significant shifts since the franchise’s founding, moving from a rocket-themed crest to a lake monster mascot, and most recently returning to its original mark for a milestone anniversary season.
Design and History
The franchise’s original logo, used from the team’s inaugural 1991 season as the Tacoma Rockets through its first few years in Kelowna, featured “ROCKETS” in an arching teal and red 3D script over a black diamond, with a WHL crest at the bottom of the diamond [1]. For the 2000-01 season, the team introduced a new primary logo featuring Ogopogo, a lake monster said to inhabit Okanagan Lake, carrying a hockey stick [1]. This Ogopogo mark has served as the team’s primary logo ever since [1].
In 2015, to mark the franchise’s 25th year in the WHL, the team temporarily replaced the Ogopogo crest on its jerseys with the original diamond-and-script logo from the inaugural 1991 season [2]. The red jerseys, however, retained the Ogopogo monster crest that season [2].
For the 2025-26 season, the club’s 30th anniversary in Kelowna, the Rockets again brought back the classic throwback logo and jerseys [3]. The retro mark was updated slightly, replacing the WHL crest at the bottom of the diamond with “EST. 1995” [1]. The team also unveiled a separate 30th anniversary logo featuring a pair of crossing rockets with the number 30 in the middle, inspired by the shoulder patch from the team’s original jerseys [4][5]. The anniversary mark was placed at centre ice at Prospera Place and incorporated into the team’s 2025 training camp logo [5].
Meaning and Symbolism
The team’s nickname and original rocket imagery date to the franchise’s founding in Tacoma, Washington, in 1991, a nod to the city’s aerospace industry. After the team relocated to Kelowna in 1995, the organization pivoted its primary identity around 2000 to feature Ogopogo, the legendary lake monster of Okanagan Lake, a figure with deep local folklore roots [1]. This created an unusual situation where the team name referenced rockets while the logo and mascot depicted a lake monster [6].
The Ogopogo logo drew some controversy when observers noted its similarity to a mark used by the now-defunct San Antonio Dragons of the International Hockey League in the late 1990s [7]. The designer of the Kelowna logo, Phred Martin, steadfastly denied taking the idea from the older image [7].
Typography and Design
The original retro logo features “ROCKETS” in an arching teal and red 3D script over a black diamond [1]. The 30th anniversary logo uses the number 30 in a block font with a pair of rockets crossing beneath it [5]. The team’s colours have been documented as teal, red, copper, black and white [8].
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