PSM Makassar, officially Persatuan Sepakbola Makassar, is an Indonesian football club founded on 2 November 1915 and based in Makassar, South Sulawesi. The club’s current crest, introduced in 2017, is a shield-shaped emblem featuring a Pinisi sailing ship, a football, and the founding year 1915. The club’s official website describes PSM as the oldest football club in Indonesia and a symbol of struggle and pride for South Sulawesi. [1]
Design and History
PSM Makassar has changed its logo twice since its founding. The first logo was used from 1926, when the club was still named Macassaarsche Voetbal Bond (MVB), and featured the MVB initials. In 1959, during the Perserikatan era, the club came under full control of the regional government, and its logo became nearly identical to the official emblem of the Makassar city government. [2]
On 14 April 2017, PSM officially launched a new logo at an event at Lapangan Karebosi in Makassar. [3] The change was driven by legal and professional considerations. According to then-CEO Munafri Arifuddin, PSM had become a private company rather than a government-funded club, and could not copyright the old logo because it was the same as the Makassar city government emblem. The new logo was designed to be copyrighted and to move the club away from the Perserikatan era stigma toward modern professional football. [3] The redesign process involved supporters, traditional leaders, and former players, and the final logo was a refinement of entries submitted to a logo competition held the previous year. [2]
The 2017 crest is shield-shaped with a Pinisi ship at the center, set against a red background with a football watermark. The text “PSM Makassar” appears at the top and the year “1915” at the bottom. [4] The logo uses maroon, red, gold, white, and black. [5]
In addition to the main crest, PSM has released special anniversary logos. For the club’s 107th anniversary in 2022, the club launched a special logo featuring a pentagonal shield frame in red and golden yellow, with the outer and inner frames forming the numbers 1, 0, and 7. [6] For the 109th anniversary in 2024, a special logo was released featuring a diamond shape representing the sail of a Pinisi ship, a football, waves, and Roman numerals for 1915 and 2024. [7]
Meaning and Symbolism
The 2017 logo contains five documented elements that combine football symbolism with Bugis-Makassar cultural values:
- Pinisi ship: A symbol of pride, perseverance, and hard work that has long been associated with the people of South Sulawesi. [2]
- Football: Placed in the background, representing football as the most popular sport in South Sulawesi. [2]
- Shield or tameng: A symbol of high self-confidence, security, and welfare. [2]
- Letter “V”: Formed by the shield shape, it stands for victory, glory, sovereignty, and peace, expressing the hope that PSM will always win. [2]
- Year 1915: Located at the tip of the shield, marking the year PSM was founded. [2]
The colors in the logo also carry documented meanings: maroon represents friendship, peace, productivity, and hard work; white represents peace, spirituality, maturity, and purity; black represents protection, knowledge, and deep feeling; and gold represents position and glory. [8]
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