Major League Soccer is the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada, with 30 teams. It was founded in 1993 as part of the successful American bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup and is headquartered in New York City.
The league logo is designed to be flexible. Its crest carries a diagonal stripe, the MLS wordmark and three stars, and clubs show the crest in their own colors on jerseys and merchandise. That approach lets one league identity sit comfortably next to 30 different club palettes.
Logo history
- 1994 to 2014: The league uses a mark built on a soccer boot and ball, which Design Week says was in use since the league’s formation.
- 2007 to 2014: A wordmark from that logo, held on Commons, is used.
- September 18, 2014: MLS unveils the current crest ahead of its 20th season and rolls it out for 2015 across kits, the website, apps and fantasy games.
This timeline lists only changes that a cited source confirms. Earlier or minor variants of the Major League Soccer mark that could not be dated from a primary or reputable source are left out rather than guessed.
Logo colors
| Color | HEX | RGB | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | #FFFFFF | 255, 255, 255 | Official MLS crest SVG (MLS-Crest-FFF.svg), the white version |
The Major League Soccer palette in this draft has 1 recorded value. White is #FFFFFF, which is RGB 255, 255, 255. Where a value comes from a redrawn vector rather than the owner’s own guide, check it against official files before using it in design work.
The league serves the crest as a white version and designed it to be recolored in each club’s colors, so white is the only fixed value from the official file.
Typography
Not stated in the sources checked.
Design context and usage rules
Design Week reported that an in house MLS team built the identity with the consultancies Gigunda, Athletics and Berliner Benson. Each element has a stated meaning. The three stars stand for club, country and community. The outline echoes the lines of the field, and a slash rising at 45 degrees from outside the crest is meant to show speed, energy and the rising trajectory of the league.
MLS said it wanted a design less literal than the old boot, and it encouraged clubs to own the crest by recoloring it to match the colors their fans support. That makes the MLS crest one of the few league marks designed from the start to change color.
FAQ
What do the three stars on the MLS logo mean?
Community, club and country.
When did MLS change its logo?
The current crest was unveiled on September 18, 2014.
Who designed the MLS crest?
An in house team working with Gigunda, Athletics and Berliner Benson, according to Design Week.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Soccer
- https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/september-2014/major-league-soccer-rebrands-with-adaptable-crest-system/
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Major_League_Soccer_MLS_wordmark_2007.svg
- https://images.mlssoccer.com/image/upload/v1594889391/assets/crest/MLS-Crest-FFF.svg
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