Today’s News-Leader has a story title Carbon Copy that is near-and-dear to the webmaster’s heart: team logos. There is also an extended discussion on their High School HQ Podcast. The story is about how various high school football teams have “borrowed” their helmet logos from various high school and professional teams. Some schools have been forced to change their helmet decals because of licensing problems (Ozark) or because of trademark enforcement by the owner (Waukee, IA).
Glendale is a school with an identity crisis. At one point I had counted more than a dozen different graphic representations of the school. Most of these are a variation of the letter G or a falcon. The Glendale Football program uses the Atlanta Falcons helmet logo that has been altered to use Red & Columbia Blue. Surprisingly, the NFL does not care about logo appropriation. The News-Leader says:
Some companies are very judicious about allowing others to use their trademark. Some aren’t as sticky about it.
It turns out, the Falcon — the same one that the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and Glendale use — is fair game.
The NFL and its franchises co-own the logos. NFL Properties protects the trademarks.
Just as you can find the Atlanta Falcon logo splattered over all the NFL team’s merchandise, it’s not hard to find Glendale’s version on its gear. It’s on stationery, helmets, even the ads promoting its fund-raising campaign for a new HPER facility.
Glendale doesn’t own the Falcon trademark. The NFL’s response?
It doesn’t care.
“It’s fine. Where we draw the distinction is if the school is looking to sell merchandise in an excessive way,” said Brian McCarthy, an NFL spokesman. “We support youth football. We don’t want (the logo’s use) harming our image. This actually promotes it.”
I have heard that there has been discussion of a single logo for Glendale High School, or at least Glendale High School athletics. As you can imagine, there has been tremendous disagreement over which logo to use. Personally, I would love to see the school or the combined booster clubs pay a graphic designer to develop some logo concepts (word and graphic) to give the school a unique and unified public image. Designing a stylized “G” or “Glendale” or falcon cannot be that complicated since there are plenty of ideas to draw from. After all, they can’t do worse than Bowling Green University and it isn’t an ugly rodent like the prairie dog. I know it will be controversial, but surely the Glendale administration can force the issue before the school’s 50th anniversary in 2013.
Glendale Soccer has gone its own way with the pentagonal soccer badge which has represented during most of its existence. A unified Glendale logo would sound the death knell for the Glendale Soccer badge, but I think it is worthwhile if the school can establish and enforce a unified logo.
Absent a unified Glendale logo, I would love to see a 25th anniversary edition of the current soccer badge when the boys kickoff their 25th season in September 2009.
Glendale administrators read this site on a regular basis. Let them know what you think.
Bob Jordan
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I wouldn’t mind seeing a single logo for the school, but the badge is a well recognized symbol of the program. It, unlike the football team, hasn’t really changed much. Let them settle on a football logo for football and a sports logo that would go on various schwag for all the teams.