Alright so here’s the thing – I’ve been a Sacramento Kings fan since forever, but never really paid attention to their logo changes until last week. I was cleaning out my garage and found this old Kings jersey from the 90s, and man the logo looked totally different from what they have now. Got me curious, you know? Decided to dig into their logo history just for fun.
My research rabbit hole
First thing I did was hit up old newspaper archives online. Spent like three hours scrolling through microfilm scans from the 1940s when they were called the Rochester Royals. Found these grainy photos of their earliest logos – looked like somebody’s kid drew a cartoon crown with crayons. Seriously bad quality.
Then I headed downtown to the Kings team store, trying to spot logo differences on vintage merch. The clerk thought I was crazy staring at t-shirt designs under a magnifying glass. But hey, spotted something cool – their 1994 logo secretly had a basketball shape hidden in the lion’s mane. Never noticed that before!
Weird facts I unearthed
- That crown on their current logo? It’s based on some European royalty’s actual crown. Random but true.
- Back in 1957 they used this ugly purple horse logo for like five minutes before fans roasted it to death.
- The worst redesign was in 1988 when it looked like a cartoon character had vomited glitter.
- Funniest thing – original sketches for the 1999 logo had a king holding a giant hot dog instead of a basketball. Seriously.
Ended my deep dive by interviewing this old-timer at a sports bar who had Kings tattoos from three different eras. Dude showed me his bicep with the 1970s logo faded into a blob. “Got this when we still sucked in Cincinnati” he says. Legend.
What this taught me
You look at any team logo long enough and it’s like staring at one of those magic eye posters. Suddenly you see all the hidden details and dumb decisions. What surprised me most? How many trash logos got approved before someone finally nailed it. The current one’s actually pretty slick once you notice how the crown points form a basketball’s lines.
Moral of the story? Next time I’m drinking beer at a Kings game, I’ll squint at those jerseys differently. That lion’s not just roaring – it’s carrying decades of terrible design choices on its back.
