The Minnesota Lynx, a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) franchise based in Minneapolis, unveiled their current primary logo on August 11, 2017, during a halftime ceremony at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The new mark was part of a coordinated rebranding effort that unified the Lynx with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Iowa Wolves under a shared visual identity.[1]
Design and History
The Lynx’s original logo was unveiled in December 1998 at a ceremony in the Minneapolis area, when the franchise name was announced. Contemporary press described the mark as “a white cat with blue eyes snarling over a red-and-white WNBA basketball,” sharing the same blue, silver and green team colors used by the Minnesota Timberwolves at the time.[2] The team’s own retrospective account described it as a “sharp-eyed Lynx growling over the WNBA multi-colored basketball.”[3]
In 2017, the Lynx joined the Timberwolves and Iowa Wolves in a rebranding effort. The similar look of the three logos was purposeful, intended to unify the teams and visually establish them as one organization.[1] Rodney Richardson, who designed the new Timberwolves logo unveiled in April 2017, also designed the Lynx logo.[4] The team continued using its previous logo for the remainder of the 2017 season, with merchandise featuring the new logo available before the 2018 season.[1]
Timberwolves & Lynx CEO Ethan Casson explained the timing of the rebrand: “As we move back into Target Center next season, we wanted an identity that honors the achievements of the past while capturing the hopes and dreams of another generation of Lynx fans.”[5]
Meaning and Symbolism
All three logos in the rebranded family bear the Nordic A and the North Star, but the Lynx mark includes elements unique to the team. The Lynx head faces to the left, signifying “a reflection of the team’s great past, with pride and mindfulness of its great future.” The Lynx head is also the only one of the three to break the seal of the circle, meant to portray the organization’s ability to “fight fearlessly, break new grounds, pave the way for others and exert uncontainable energy.”[1]
For the franchise’s 25th anniversary season in 2023, the Lynx released a commemorative logo featuring four stars representing the franchise’s four championships. The numbers in that logo used the original jersey font from the team’s inaugural year in 1999, while the mark incorporated the current Lynx logo, typeface and colors.[6]
Typography and Design
The team’s official colors are Midnight Navy Blue, Lake Blue, Aurora Green and Moonlight Grey.[7] The franchise has stated these colors are inspired by the landscape of Minnesota.[8]
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