Unless You’re a Connoisseur of Ben Franklin’s Political Cartoons…
By Katie Earley, Copywriter
Philadelphia is getting a professional soccer team (Congrats!) and of course this requires them to name the team, create a logo, and so forth.
The name: Philadelphia Union
Nice, patriotic, appropriate.
The logo:
Umm, what does a snake have to do with the Union. Was the eagle already in use for something else? (Oh wait, there’s a Philadelphia Eagles team. Forgot about that.)
Does the logo make sense to you?
If you don’t get the snake-union connection, don’t worry because you can read all about it here. They have a thorough brand narrative and this Brand New article even includes Benjamin Franklin’s 1754 political cartoon the logo references.
The Philadelphia Union put a lot of thought into making their logo symbolic which I applaud. I strongly support things (logos, ads) having meaning and not just being done on a whim. Yet, the logo also has to stand on its own, and I don’t think it does that. The snake-Union, reference is too obscure (and approximately 255 years old) a symbol to resonate with most, so the history and significance behind this logo will largely go unrecognized. Tragic, since it is a cool, albeit unknown, symbol, which brings back many fond memories of my high school US History AP class.
It will look nice on the jerseys though.
Image: Brand New
