THE HISTORY OF THE CREST

Not many fans, especially the young ones of this generation, know the history of their team's emblem. Since this blog is devoted to information on FC Barcelona, i decided to reveal the history of the FC Barcelona crest.

Since the creation of the club in 1899, the players have always worn an emblem on their shirt. The first emblem was the coat of arms of the city of Barcelona. It was a diamond-shaped crest divided into four quarters. It had a crown over it (Crown of Aragon) as well as a bat (Bat of king James). It also had two branches surrounding it, one of a laurel tree and the other a palm.  Even at such a young age, the emblem symbolized the connection between the club and the city of its roots.

The crest remained unchanged until 1910. Joan Gamper had saved the club from serious crisis in 1908 and shortly after, it was decided that the club should have its own differentiated emblem. This led to a competition among interested members which was held to determine who would design the new emblem in 1910. The winner was Carles Comamala who played for the club between 1903 and 1912 and was a medical student at the time. He was also a fine artist and so the crest that the club wears to this day was created. There have been some slight variations though. The crest had a bowl shape design with the two upper quarters retaining the st. George cross and red and yellow bars of the original, the most representative symbols of Barcelona and Catalonia. The initials of the club F.C.B. appeared on a strip across the centre and below lied the barca colours with a ball. The emblem, therefore, represents the sporting dimensions of the club and its connection to its city and country.

Minimal changes have been made to the design since 1910. Just aesthetic changes to the outline. The biggest changes came as a result of political obligations. When Franco came into power, the initials F.C.B were replaced by C.F.B. This was a reflection of the way the club was made to use the Spanish version of its name. The club was also obliged to remove two of the four bars on the upper quarters as a result of the dictatorship. Hence, the catalan flag was excluded from the crest. However, on the occasion of the club's 50th anniversary in 1949, the four bars were restored. The letters, though, were not recovered until 1974 when the club decided to revert the crest back to the 1910 design.

The present crest however is based on the design made by Clarret Serrahima in 2002. The lines are a little more stylized, the dots between the letters have been removed, the name has been made smaller and there are fewer pointed edges. The lines in this new design are somewhat simpler which makes it easier for the club's identity to be reproduced at various formats.

The present crest is just unique and very beautiful and I don't think FCB will be making any modifications any time soon.
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