Willem II is a professional football club from Tilburg, Netherlands, founded in 1896. The club’s visual identity has been shaped by two father-and-son designers, Gerrit and Harry Villevoye, whose crests have defined the club’s look for over seventy years. The current emblem, adopted on 1 July 2022, is the sixth logo in the club’s history and marks a return to the design used between 1952 and 1983.[1]
Design and History
Willem II’s first club insignia dates to 1928, designed by Arnaud van der Ven as a wearable pin in red, white and blue featuring the founding year, the letter W, the Roman numeral II and the word “voetbal”.[2]
In 1952, club secretary Gerrit Villevoye designed a new logo that resembled a royal coat of arms. It removed the word “voetbal”, introduced an orange crown, added a football image and placed the year 1896 beside the ball.[2] This crest remained in use until 1983.[1]
After Gerrit Villevoye died in 1982, his son Harry Villevoye, a graduate of the art academy, was asked by new chairman Wim Groels to design a replacement. Harry’s 1983 design made the logo round, added the full club name “Willem II” and the city name “Tilburg”, and retained many elements of his father’s work.[3] The round logo received updates in 1995 with brighter gold, red and blue tones, and again in 2007 with adjusted colors to emphasize the royal character.[2]
For the club’s 125th anniversary in the 2021-2022 season, Willem II introduced a jubilee logo based on the 1952 crest, with “125 jaar” added beneath the crown.[4] The positive reception to this anniversary mark, combined with a long-standing supporter wish to return to the 1952-1983 design, led the club to adopt a permanent new crest on 1 July 2022.[1][5]
The 2022 crest is a modernized version of Gerrit Villevoye’s 1952 design. It retains the crown, the founding date and the football element, while the text is reduced to only “1896”.[1] The club explained the simplification by noting that “Willem II is Tilburg, Willem II is red-white-blue and Willem II carries the name of King William the Second”, making the full text unnecessary.[1]
Meaning and Symbolism
The club’s colors are red, white and blue, a palette that has been central to its identity since the first insignia of 1928.[2] The club name itself references King William II of the Netherlands, and the crown in the crest reflects this royal connection.[1] The 1952 design introduced the orange crown, which was later changed to white in the 2022 version, making the current logo consist of four colors.[2][1]
Typography and Design
In the 2022 redesign, the serifs at the ends of the W and the Roman numeral II were changed from rounded to classical squared-off forms, and the same typography was applied to the year 1896. The panels of the football at the bottom of the crest were also made more angular.[1] The club’s official brand book lists red, white, blue and gold as the four basic colors of the house style, with black added to the palette.[6]
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.
