Reading's emblem

[albionroad]

Hello folks. Another Reading question. What is the symbolism behind the various elements of the Reading emblem? Lion...crown...blue/white stripes (the jersey I guess), the red...

http://albionroad.com/Logos/reading.gif

[ksaul27]

I'm not English but this is how I understand it: the crown is obviously the British crown and the lion is the national animal. Usually you see it as three lions on various emblems. The colors on the royal shield are red, gold and blue, so I suppose the colors come from that. Also Windsor Castle is located in the same county, thus the nickname Royals. See http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/motto.html.

[Neapolitan]

I'm not English but this is how I understand it: the crown is obviously the British crown and the lion is the national animal. Usually you see it as three lions on various emblems. The colors on the royal shield are red, gold and blue, so I suppose the colors come from that. Also Windsor Castle is located in the same county, thus the nickname Royals. See http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/motto.html.

Perfectly put. I never really liked the logo or the team even though I live less than a 15 minute drive from Reading, heh.

[RichardL]

I'm not English but this is how I understand it: the crown is obviously the British crown and the lion is the national animal. Usually you see it as three lions on various emblems. The colors on the royal shield are red, gold and blue, so I suppose the colors come from that. Also Windsor Castle is located in the same county, thus the nickname Royals. See http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/motto.html.

the crown comes from the Royals nickname, which itself is a reference to the Royal County of Berkshire. The nickname was only chosen in the 1970s. The club was called The biscuitmen up until then, but the closing of the large biscuit factory prompted a change of name.

The lion is the Maiwand Lion, ....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbury_lion

...a statue in central Reading (next door to the prison where Oscar Wilde stayed for a bit). The Maiwand Lion was named after a village in Afganistan and was built to commemorate the deaths of 329 men from the 66th Berkshire Regiment in the Battle of Maiwand.

The blue are white are the clubs hoops. The red is more of a mystery. The badge was only designed in 1998. It replaced the tradional elm tree badge which had been used up until then, as the club played at Elm Park.

The club got a design company to design a series of badges in 1998 featuring the Maiwand Lion, which were to be voted on by fans. All the designs were rejected by fans though, on the grounds that they looked too much likes the badges of Millwall and Chelsea, so the above design was chosen instead.


Between 1988 and 1997 the club had an incredibly plain badge, surely the dullest in the history of football. It was four coloured vertical stripes (white, sky blue, navy blue and yellow) on a shield, with a white bit at the top with Reading FC written on it. It was apparently designed by the then manager Ian Branfoot's young daughter the night before a new design was required.

[ksaul27]

Thanks for clarifying the lion icon. Fascinating! and much more unique than what I thought it represented.

[CyphaPSU]

Good info, thanks.

[Pablo Chicago]

The badge was only designed in 1998. It replaced the tradional elm tree badge which had been used up until then, as the club played at Elm Park.

Between 1988 and 1997 the club had an incredibly plain badge, surely the dullest in the history of football. It was four coloured vertical stripes (white, sky blue, navy blue and yellow) on a shield, with a white bit at the top with Reading FC written on it. It was apparently designed by the then manager Ian Branfoot's young daughter the night before a new design was required.

Anyone have pics of any pre-'98 badges? If so, please post.

[T_Rock]

Anyone have pics of any pre-'98 badges? If so, please post.

Here are some of the badges I found:

http://www.behindthebadges.co.uk/images/bigBadges/read2.JPG

http://www.behindthebadges.co.uk/images/bigBadges/read3.JPG


Only used for one season:
http://www.behindthebadges.co.uk/images/bigBadges/read4.JPG

[T_Rock]

Apparently the have limited the amount of img and url you can have in a single post. To continue:

The above images were blatantly stolen from:
http://www.behindthebadges.co.uk/READING.php

Also, during my travels I came across this page:
http://albionroad.com/questions_details.aspx?id=2

Our very own RichardL is busy educating the masses on all things Reading. Either that, or someone is stealing your identity, Richard! :eek:

[Pablo Chicago]

Cool links T Rock. You've been repped.

[jcsd]

Inetresting, but false fact about the Maiwand Lion - the sculptor who created it killed himself upon learning that it's stance was anatomically incorrect. I walk past it everyday and you often hear people repeating it.

I'm guessing the red is in the badge, because from 94-99 that was the 'third colour', being the main colour of the various 2nd strips between that time.

[T_Rock]

Here is another cool site I found:

http://www.classicfootballshirts.co.uk/premiership-clubs-reading-c-21_46.html

Nice collection of classic Reading shirts.

[paulaprisoner]

Im glad you liked my web site so much you used it in your thread. You did not steal the pics as the site is free and I cant charge anything due to the crazy amount of money I would have to pay all the clubs for copyright infringes so dont worry yourself on that score. All the best to ya. P.

[T_Rock]

Im glad you liked my web site so much you used it in your thread. You did not steal the pics as the site is free and I cant charge anything due to the crazy amount of money I would have to pay all the clubs for copyright infringes so dont worry yourself on that score. All the best to ya. P.

Thanks for making the site. Your have collected a nice bit of information and it makes for a good read. I appreciate the info. Thanks!