New Badge Spearheads Revolution

The Rangers Revolution is truly underway, the club has been rejuvenated from top to bottom, and it seems the next in line for Spring-cleaning is the badge.




The rumour mill has been in motion over recent weeks, not however concerning the playing side. The discussion concerning the Queens Park Rangers club badge has been on the agenda ever since Messers Briatore and Ecclestone outlined their plans for the West London outfit, they haven`t merely stopped at the kit manufacturer as plans unveiled have dictated.

The 1980`s Queens Park Rangers club crest has become synonymous with the clubs recent history, with many young fans such as myself, too young to remember the days of the R`s sporting the Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham crest on the blue and white hoops.

In times where logos and badges are becoming simpler to fit in with the growing trend of globalisation, Rangers latest offering has moved from the modern to a logo reminiscent of the badges of yesteryear. With clubs such as Fulham and Huddersfield moving into simpler territory in recent times, Rangers have looked to bestow a look of heritage and tradition on a club that is moving ever forward into the global market.

The prospective new logo has been filed for trademark as of 30th January 2008 by QPR Holdings Limited. It sports a royal crown, accompanied by blue and white hooped shield, depicting the words Queens Park Rangers (forgetting the apostrophe that died at some point during the 1990`s).

Below the crown is a football, with what I can only describe as the standard regalia one would expect to see on a historic badge, representing wings.

Page one of the submission has a scroll at the bottom with the words Loftus Road. London. 1882, for those who were good at spot the difference may have noticed on the second submission, these words are omitted from the scroll, paving the way for any potential ground move.

The word London on the badge is essentially what the new badge will look to bestow. Looking forward to the future with buzzwords such as branding and globalisation ringing in our ears; whilst also retaining that sense of past, with the crown and shield. There is a nice juxtaposition of imagery, with a bricolage representing the traditional and the modern; yesterday and tomorrow.

Evidently with Queens Park Rangers F.C. set become a rather big commodity in the minds of the aforementioned owners, it is somewhat surprising that they have displayed this new badge as a vision for the future.

Vital regular SuperhoopMango puts it poignantly:

I’d have to say that my views change almost as often as the wind, on this one. We have changed our badge, and indeed our stadium, on so many occasions, that tradition really doesn’t come into it.”

So where do you stand on this issue of Queens Park Rangers once again potentially changing the clubs badge and moving away from this perceived tradition that the old one held? Does the old badge hold any tradition for you? Does it conjure up aspects you would not want to see changed within the club?

In short has the club overstepped the mark? Are there some things that shouldn`t be changed or adapted for financial gain, or is that the most important factor in the whole equation?

My personal opinion is that with new owners brings new aspirations and ideas that are both to cause friction with tradition, and occasionally push the boundaries; especially when you consider the lack of previous background within football. But in all their previous undertakings the owners have proven themselves to have the clubs best interest at heart both in terms of direction and tradition.

Whether this badge is aesthetically pleasing or not is still open to debate, but from a lateral thinking perspective, the motives behind the graphics are of sound judgement and rational thought, with the direction the club have come from and aim to go at the forefront of decision making.

That is merely my opinion, we want to know what you think.

To have your say you can comment in the space provided below, or debate it further on the forum.

VITAL QPR IS 100% UNOFFICIAL – FOR THE FANS, BY THE FANS