The Minnesota Timberwolves are an NBA franchise based in Minneapolis-St. Paul. The team’s visual identity has centered on wolf imagery since its founding in 1989, with two major logo overhauls: a 2017 rebrand designed by Rodney Richardson of RARE Design, and a 2026 update that returned the franchise to its original blue, green and white color palette.
Design and History
The Timberwolves unveiled a new logo in April 2017, implemented beginning with the 2017-18 season. The mark was created over a 12-month collaborative effort between Timberwolves ownership, team executives, the NBA and Mississippi-based designer Rodney Richardson of RARE Design, whose prior NBA identity work included the Charlotte Hornets, New Orleans Pelicans, Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings.[1] Richardson and his team spent five months researching and produced “dozens of dozens” of iterations before the franchise selected a design described as more “evolution than revolution.”[2]
The 2017 logo depicted a howling wolf head in front of a basketball with a North Star above, rendered in a palette of midnight blue, aurora green, lake blue, moonlight grey and frost white.[1] The design was described by the team as an evolution of past logos incorporating elements of civic pride, the team and the wolf totem.[3]
In June 2026, the Timberwolves unveiled an all-new logo, uniforms and court designs for the 2026-27 season. The updated primary logo retains the howling wolf in front of a basketball with the North Star, but adds pine trees to the bottom right and changes the wolf from gray to white. The colors now match the franchise’s original blue, green and white logo from 1989, and the words “Minnesota Timberwolves” were removed from the primary mark.[4][5] Team officials said the direction grew out of years of fan feedback and blended familiar pieces of franchise history, including references to the original “Old Shep” era and the tree-lined uniforms fans connected with for decades.[6]
Meaning and Symbolism
The 2017 logo’s wolf head is shown howling, an act the team described as “the glue that keeps wolf packs together,” used to warn outsiders, communicate with the pack, or rally family bonds.[1] The North Star in the logo represents “the Minnesota North and following true north as a team.”[1]
Richardson described the 2017 color palette as inspired by Minnesota’s landscape: “From the motion and vibrant hues of the Northern Lights, to the depths and reflections of a midnight forest, to the rich contrasts of this great frozen city of the north.”[1]
The 2026 identity weaves pine trees into the primary logo, returning a motif that had been part of the franchise’s visual language since its early years. The trees logo was touched up in 2009 and remained in place until 2017, when the howling wolf logo debuted and the trees were removed.[5]
Typography and Design
The 2026 identity includes a custom “Tree-M” monogram connecting all three uniform designs through a shared symbol, along with a row of five trees above the jock tag representing a team’s starting lineup. Jersey numbers and lettering feature wolf-inspired design elements, while the trim references the three-stripe pattern from the organization’s original uniforms.[7]
The franchise’s original 1989 logo, nicknamed “Old Shep,” was also given an updated, brighter and more colorful treatment as part of the 2026 reveal.[8]
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