Norwich City Football Club, nicknamed the Canaries, introduced its current crest in June 2022 to mark the club’s 120th anniversary. The badge replaced a design that had been in use for 50 years, and it retains the core elements of its predecessor: a lion, a castle and a canary, modernised for a digital-first era.[1]
Design and History
Norwich City were formed in June 1902 but did not adopt the name the Canaries until the 1920s, when the club started to use a simple badge with a canary. Later, the arms of the City of Norwich were added to the badge, featuring the castle and a lion.[2] A canary first appeared on the club’s jersey in 1907, while a crest consisting of the bird and a green shield was worn between 1947 and 1972.[3]
The previous crest, used from 1972 until 2022, was designed by architect Andrew Anderson, who won £10 after entering a competition run by the Eastern Evening News. His design combined the traditional Norwich coat of arms with the previous canary badge.[4]
The new crest was designed by London agency SomeOne, whose work includes similar projects at Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers.[2] The project took two years and involved consultation with supporters, players, staff and the board.[2] The club described the change as “an evolution not a revolution.”[2]
The new crest features a redesigned lion, castle and canary, each redrawn and simplified to overcome technical issues found in the previous design.[4] The black border around the crest was removed, and the ball was repositioned in the centre of the badge.[2] The castle was redesigned to feature the correct number of nine turrets, and the lion was redrawn to look more recognisable.[5]
The crest was unveiled in November 2021, when new images were projected onto Norwich Castle, and officially came into use on June 17, 2022.[6][2]
Typography and Design
Alongside the new crest, the club introduced a bespoke typeface called “Norwich Weave,” created in collaboration with Colophon Foundry.[6][7] The typeface takes inspiration from weaving practices, paying homage to the 16th-century migration of weavers from the Spanish Netherlands to Norfolk.[8]
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