The Nürnberg Ice Tigers are a professional ice hockey club based in Nuremberg, Germany, competing in the PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The club’s current visual identity dates to May 2020, when the team returned to its former name after 14 years of playing under a title sponsor and unveiled an updated logo.
Design and History
The club played as the Nürnberg Ice Tigers from 1995 until 2006, when naming rights were sold. After Thomas Sabo became the main and naming sponsor in 2009, the team competed as the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers. Following Sabo’s withdrawal as sponsor after the 2019/20 season, the club announced on May 4, 2020, that it would return to the name Nürnberg Ice Tigers and presented an adjusted logo.[1][2]
The 2020 redesign was handled by freelance art director Alexander Fuchs from Neumarkt, working in cooperation with the club’s management.[1] Fuchs described the goal as keeping the previous logo visibly changed but not fundamentally altered, preserving the professional look built up over recent years while making the transition visible.[1]
The updated mark retains the established tiger head and the “IceTigers” lettering inside a shield, with the “Nürnberg” wordmark newly arranged alongside it. Fuchs explained that the club wanted to bring the Nuremberg location more to the fore visually after the name change.[1] The logo was presented in a short video on the club’s Instagram account on the day of the announcement.[3]
Earlier club logos include the EHC 80 Nürnberg mark used from 1980 to 1995 and the original Nürnberg Ice Tigers logo from 1995 onward.[4]
Meaning and Symbolism
The tiger head has been a consistent element of the club’s identity, described in coverage of the 2020 redesign as the “proven tiger head” that was retained alongside the shield and lettering.[1] The tiger motif also appears on the team’s jerseys, where a tiger pattern derived from the logo decorates the fronts, sleeves and numbers.[5]
The club’s official team colors are red and blue.[6] In the 2020/21 season, home jerseys were dark gray-black with red elements, while away jerseys featured red and blue elements, and a third dark blue jersey was planned for monthly “Retro Night” games.[1] For the 2026/27 season, the club returned to blue and red as the dominant home colors, with red elements appearing prominently on the away jerseys for the first time.[5]
Typography and Design
The 2020 logo combines a shield containing the “IceTigers” wordmark with the “Nürnberg” lettering arranged beside it. Fuchs described the “IceTigers” lettering as slightly revised and the “Nürnberg” wordmark as newly arranged within the overall composition.[1] No specific typeface has been publicly documented for the logo.
Logo Index is an independent educational archive covering logos, visual identities and graphic design history. All trademarks and brand assets remain the property of their respective owners.
