The Bournemouth logo is one of the more distinctive crests in English football. It doesn’t follow the usual coat-of-arms approach that so many clubs default to. Instead, it tells a specific story, rooted in a real person and a club that nearly disappeared altogether.
AFC Bournemouth was formed in 1899 as Boscombe FC, out of the remains of the Boscombe St. John’s Institute side. The badge has been redrawn several times since the 1930s. The current primary crest, revealed in 2013, is a shield with the silhouette of former striker Dickie Dowsett heading a football, red and black stripes and gold lettering. A retro-style alternative badge built around a pair of cherries has also appeared on special kits since 2024.
Red has been the one constant through every version. The club has worn red and black stripes since the early 1970s, and the badge has reflected that. For a club that went from administration and a points deduction to Premier League football in less than a decade, the logo carries more weight than most people realize.
What Is the AFC Bournemouth Logo?
The AFC Bournemouth logo is a shield crest showing the silhouette of 1950s and 60s striker Dickie Dowsett heading a football over red and black stripes, with “AFC Bournemouth” in gold. The Dowsett idea dates from the 1970s, the current version was revealed in 2013, and no designer for it has been publicly credited.
| Symbol | Silhouette of Dickie Dowsett heading a football, on red and black stripes inside a shield |
| Designer/agency | Not publicly credited (2013 crest); the 2024 cherry badge was reworked with designer Daniel Norris |
| Current version since | 2013 (revealed in the 2012–13 promotion season) |
| Colors (hex) | Red approx. #DB181E, dark red approx. #B20D11, gold approx. #A8996E, black #000000, white #FFFFFF (sampled from the current logo) |
| Typeface | Custom bold uppercase sans-serif lettering, not publicly identified |
| Previous major version | The 1983 headed-ball crest and its 1980s–2000s refinements, with red and black lettering |
How Has the AFC Bournemouth Logo Evolved Over Time?
The Bournemouth badge has changed many times. It started with a borrowed coat of arms, went through an initials-only phase, then found its identity in the 1970s with the heading-player image that remains central to the crest today.
Most clubs go through three or four logo changes. Bournemouth went through several more, and each one reflected something happening off the pitch as much as on it. Kit historians don’t always agree on the exact season each version arrived, so the years below follow the most consistent accounts.
The Coat of Arms Era (mid-1930s onward)
The first badge showed up on shirts in the mid-1930s. It was adapted from the civic arms of Bournemouth and Boscombe. The town’s arms, granted in 1891, carry the Latin motto “Pulchritudo et Salubritas” (beauty and health).
This wasn’t a football badge in any real sense. It was a local government symbol placed onto a football kit.
The club was called Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic at the time, a name it had used since 1923, and it played in the lower divisions without putting much thought into brand identity. Nobody did back then.
The shield tied the club to the town rather than to football itself, which was common for English clubs in that era. If you search for the “Bournemouth coat of arms”, this civic shield is where the club’s oldest badge came from.
The Initials Badge (late 1960s)
In the late 1960s, the club’s shirts carried simple initials, “BFC”, instead of a full crest.
No imagery, no symbols, no shield. If you’re familiar with minimalist design principles, this was that approach before anyone called it that.
A pure typographic treatment was unusual for English football at the time. Most clubs still relied on heraldic crests.
It didn’t last. The early 1970s brought a new name, a new kit and a new badge.
The Birth of the Heading-Player Crest (1972)
This is where it gets interesting.
Around the 1971–72 season, the club took the name AFC Bournemouth. Manager John Bond had also brought in a red and black striped strip modelled on AC Milan. A new badge followed in 1972: a silhouette of a player heading a football.
That player is Dickie Dowsett. He joined the club in 1957, scored 79 league goals in 169 league games over five seasons, and later returned to Dean Court as commercial manager from 1968 to 1983. The silhouette was made in his honour.
The early version was simple. A basic illustration of the head and football, with limited detail. But the concept was locked in, and club programmes of the time paired it with the line “Heading for the Top.”
The Striped Badge (1974-75)
For the 1974-75 season, the team wore a new badge on red shirts with a white, black and white vertical stripe. It disappeared after a single season.
That short-lived design still mattered. It was the first time stripes were built into the badge itself, an idea later versions would come back to.
There was a sense of balance to it. The stripes sat neatly behind the player image, and the monochrome silhouette read cleanly against them.
The Cherries Badge (1981-1983)
In 1981, the club commissioned a badge that played directly on its nickname. It showed cherries and a football rather than the heading player.
The nickname “The Cherries” has two common explanations. The cherry-red striped shirts are the most likely one. The other is that Dean Court, their home ground since 1910, was built next to the Cooper-Dean estate, where cherry trees were said to grow.
The design was playful and distinct, but it lost the identity that the Dowsett silhouette had established. By 1983 the club brought back the player image.
The retro badge used on special kits from 2024 pulls heavily from this early-1980s design, so it wasn’t forgotten.
The Headed-Ball Shield Era (1983-2013)
From 1983 onward, the Dowsett silhouette was back for good. The 1983 headed-ball design kept red and white stripes from the original crest and, with small changes, lasted about 30 years.
Over that period the badge was refined several times. Later versions added a black outline, a white background and striped hair detail on the figure, with “AFC Bournemouth” lettering in red and black beneath or around the shield. If you’re searching for the “Bournemouth old logo”, this is the version most fans remember from the 1980s, 90s and 2000s.
During this period, the club experienced relegation, financial crisis, administration in 2008 and a 17-point deduction, and then a comeback under Eddie Howe that took them from League Two all the way to the Premier League.
The Current Crest (2013-Present)
The 2013 redesign kept everything people loved. The Dowsett silhouette heading the football. The red and black stripes. The shield shape.
What changed was the polish. Gold lettering replaced the previous red and black text. The shield lines got cleaner. “AFC Bournemouth” appeared on the shield in gold capitals. The overall look was sharper and more suited to broadcast and digital use.
This is the badge that went to the Premier League. It carried the club through their first top-flight season in 2015-16 and has become closely connected to the most successful period in the club’s history.
What Do the Design Elements of the AFC Bournemouth Logo Mean?
Every piece of the Bournemouth crest connects to something real. The silhouette is a specific person. The stripes match the kit. The colors reference both the club’s nickname and its playing history. Nothing in this badge is decorative filler.
That’s actually rare. Plenty of football badges use generic symbols. Bournemouth’s tells a story you can trace back to the 1970s.
What Are the AFC Bournemouth Logo Colors?
The short answer: the kit came first, and the badge followed. Red and black stripes have been on Bournemouth shirts since the early 1970s, so the badge colors were always going to match.
The club doesn’t publish official color codes for the crest. The values below are approximate and were sampled from the current logo file, so treat them as a close match for screen work rather than official specs:
- Red – approx. #DB181E. The bright red of the stripes, linked to the cherry nickname and the shirt.
- Dark Red – approx. #B20D11. A deeper shade used for depth in the stripes and lettering.
- Black – #000000. The silhouette, outlines and black stripes, matching the black in the kit.
- Gold – approx. #A8996E. Used for the “AFC Bournemouth” lettering and trim since the 2013 version.
- White – #FFFFFF. Used for contrast around the figure and the ball.
No official Pantone, CMYK or RGB breakdown has been published, so any print-ready values you see online are conversions, not club figures. You can still build a color palette from the hex values above for fan or editorial projects.
The gold was a smart addition. It set the 2013 badge apart from earlier versions without changing the core identity. Understanding how colors affect perception explains why gold reads as achievement and ambition, which fits a club that was climbing the leagues at the time.
What Typography Style Is Used in the AFC Bournemouth Logo?
The current badge uses bold, uppercase sans-serif lettering for “AFC BOURNEMOUTH”. The club has not named a typeface, and it appears to be custom lettering drawn for the crest rather than a font you can download.
Gold coloring on the letterforms makes them stand out against the darker background elements. The letter spacing is compact but legible, even at small sizes on broadcast graphics.
Earlier versions used a mix of styles. The headed-ball badges of the 1980s to 2000s used red and black lettering in more traditional layouts, sometimes on a ribbon. Each reflected the design trends of its time.
What Are the Hidden Meanings in the AFC Bournemouth Logo?
The Dowsett silhouette is the biggest one. Most people see a generic footballer heading a ball. It’s actually a tribute to Dickie Dowsett, a prolific scorer for the club in the late 1950s and early 1960s who later spent 15 years as its commercial manager.
The stripes behind the figure mirror the red and black stripes on the playing kit. That detail connects the badge directly to what the team looks like on the pitch.
The gold accents, added in 2013, arrived as the club was winning promotion to the Championship. Not subtle, but effective. The badge reflected a club on the way up.
How Does the AFC Bournemouth Logo Compare to Competitor Logos?
Most English football badges rely on shields, animals, or civic heraldry. Bournemouth uses a human silhouette. That alone makes it stand out.
Compare it to rivals in the Premier League. The Southampton badge uses a traditional halo and shield with the city’s tree symbol. The Crystal Palace crest features an eagle. Wolverhampton Wanderers use a geometric wolf head.
Bournemouth’s approach is closer to what you’d see in strong logo design outside of football. It picks a single strong image and builds everything around it.
Next to other southern clubs, the Bournemouth badge reads as more modern and personality-driven. The Reading FC crest is more traditional, and the Fulham badge leans classic with its “FFC” monogram.
The trade-off is that Bournemouth’s badge doesn’t carry the same heraldic weight. It looks clean on a screen but doesn’t have the layered symbolism of, say, the Liverpool crest or the Arsenal cannon. Whether that matters depends on what you think a football badge should do.
On a practical level, the detailed silhouette needs some size to read well. On tiny pixel counts the stripes and hair detail blur, which is one reason simpler marks like the cherries badge work well on merchandise. For printed materials, a vector version will always reproduce more cleanly than a JPEG, and print shops usually ask for files at a decent DPI.
What Cultural Impact Has the AFC Bournemouth Logo Had?
Before 2015, most football fans outside of England’s south coast wouldn’t have recognized this badge. Premier League promotion changed that completely.
The Dowsett silhouette became one of those images that people associate with an underdog story. A club that started the 2008-09 season on minus 17 points and nearly dropped out of the Football League was soon on Match of the Day every week, and its badge was everywhere.
In 2024, minority investor Michael B. Jordan worked with designer Daniel Norris on special edition kits for the club’s preseason tour of the United States. They carried a modern reworking of the early-1980s Cherries crest in gold on the chest, with the usual crest on the back of the collar. That crossover between football identity and streetwear culture gave the Bournemouth badge a second life outside of traditional sports branding.
For a club from a town of roughly 200,000 people, that kind of reach is significant. The badge has become shorthand for what smaller clubs can achieve when things go right.
How Does the AFC Bournemouth Logo Fit Into the Overall Brand Identity?
The badge doesn’t exist in isolation. It sits inside a broader system that includes the red and black kit, the “Cherries” nickname, Dean Court (known as the Vitality Stadium for sponsorship reasons), and the club’s visual language across digital and physical spaces.
Gold from the badge carries into merchandise, kit details and special editions, and the Dowsett silhouette works on its own where the full shield would be too busy.
The club was bought in December 2022 by Black Knight Football Club, a group led by Bill Foley, with Michael B. Jordan among the minority investors. Since then the retro cherries badge has worked almost as a sub-brand for special projects, and it appeared on the 2026-27 third kit. When fans asked whether this meant a rebrand, club executive Jim Frevola said the club did not want to change the crest. Reports say the alternative badge went through a consultation with the club’s Fan Advisory Board, the FA and the Premier League first. Under FA rules introduced in 2022, clubs are expected to consult supporters before any material crest change. Clubs like this usually also have internal brand guidelines, though Bournemouth’s are not public.
How Should the AFC Bournemouth Logo Be Used?
This is general advice, not the club’s own rulebook:
- Use the badge as it is. Stretching, recoloring or redrawing it changes a protected mark.
- Editorial use, such as news coverage, match previews or a design analysis like this one, is the most common legitimate use.
- For anything commercial, contact the club first.
Trademark protection: Club crests are protected trademarks, and Bournemouth filed trademark applications for the cherries design in 2024. Selling items with the badge, or using it to suggest an official link, requires permission or a licensing agreement. Fan-made content for non-commercial purposes is usually treated more leniently, but that is the club’s call.
The club now runs both marks: the cherries design for special kits and lifestyle products, and the Dowsett crest as the main badge for football.
FAQ on The Bournemouth Logo
What does the AFC Bournemouth logo look like?
The current AFC Bournemouth crest is a shield with a silhouette of a player heading a football. Red and black stripes fill the background, and gold lettering reads “AFC Bournemouth”.
Who is the player on the Bournemouth badge?
It is Dickie Dowsett, who scored 79 league goals for the club between 1957 and 1962 and later served as commercial manager from 1968 to 1983. The heading-player silhouette was first used in 1972 in his honour.
When was the current Bournemouth crest introduced?
The current version was revealed in 2013, during the season the club won promotion to the Championship. It refined the heading-player idea first used in 1972 and carried the Cherries into their first Premier League season in 2015-16.
What did the old Bournemouth logo look like?
The old badge, used from 1983 until 2013 with small changes, showed the same heading silhouette with red and white stripes and red and black “AFC Bournemouth” lettering. Before that came a cherries badge (1981-83), a striped 1974-75 badge, “BFC” initials and a civic coat of arms.
What was the first Bournemouth badge?
The first badge, worn from the mid-1930s, was based on the civic arms of Bournemouth and Boscombe. The town’s arms carry the motto “Pulchritudo et Salubritas”.
What colors are in the Bournemouth logo?
Red, black, gold and white. Red and black match the striped kit colours worn since the early 1970s, and gold was added in 2013. Approximate hex values are red #DB181E, dark red #B20D11 and gold #A8996E; the club doesn’t publish official codes.
What font does the Bournemouth logo use?
The club has not named a typeface. The gold “AFC BOURNEMOUTH” text is bold, uppercase sans-serif lettering that appears to be custom drawn for the crest.
Why are Bournemouth called The Cherries?
The most likely reason is the cherry-red striped shirts. Another story links it to cherry trees on the Cooper-Dean estate beside Dean Court, the club’s ground since 1910.
Has AFC Bournemouth changed its logo recently?
Not the main crest. Since 2024 the club has used a retro alternative badge with cherries, reworked with designer Daniel Norris from the early-1980s design, on special kits. The club has said it does not want to change the main crest.
Can I use the Bournemouth logo for my own project?
Not commercially without permission. The badge is a protected trademark, so selling anything with it requires a licensing agreement. Editorial and non-commercial fan use is more common, but it is still the club’s call.
Conclusion
The Bournemouth logo works because it never tried to be something it wasn’t. From the 1930s civic arms to the 2013 Premier League crest, every version reflected where the club actually stood at that moment.
Dickie Dowsett’s silhouette gives the badge something most football emblems lack: a real person behind the design.
The red and black stripes, the gold accents, the shield shape. These aren’t random picks. They connect directly to the kit, the nickname, and the club heritage built over 125 years on the south coast.
With the retro cherries badge now appearing alongside the classic Dowsett crest, AFC Bournemouth has two visual identities working together. That’s a smart move for a club pushing into merchandise, digital content, and global recognition beyond Dean Court.
Sources
- Wikipedia, AFC Bournemouth – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFC_Bournemouth
- Wikipedia, Dickie Dowsett – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickie_Dowsett
- Historical Football Kits, Bournemouth – https://historicalkits.co.uk/Bournemouth/Bournemouth.htm
- SportsLogos.Net, AFC Bournemouth launch Michael B. Jordan-designed kits for preseason U.S. tour – https://news.sportslogos.net/2024/07/21/afc-bournemouth-launch-michael-b-jordan-designed-kits-for-preseason-u-s-tour/soccer/
- Footy Headlines, AFC Bournemouth comments about leaked logo – https://www.footyheadlines.com/2024/02/afc-bournemouth-comments-about-leaked.html
- Roundtable, Bournemouth CEO responds to kit backlash – https://roundtable.io/sports/soccer/premier-league/afc-bournemouth/news/bournemouth-ceo-responds-to-kit-backlash-as-bu-branded-shirts-confirmed
- Wikimedia, AFC Bournemouth (2013) crest file – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AFC_Bournemouth_(2013).svg
Renowned for his expertise in logo design and visual branding, Bogdan has developed a multitude of logos for various clients.
His skills extend to creating posters, vector illustrations, business cards, and brochures. Additionally, Bogdan's UI kits were featured on marketplaces like Visual Hierarchy and UI8.
He also wrote in the past years on sites like Design Your Way, WebDesignerDepot, WPDean, Designmodo, Speckyboy, Slider Revolution, and more.
- How to Replace an Image in Canva Without Breaking the Layout - 12 November 2026
- What’s the Best Bot-Free AI Note Taker for Client Calls in 2026 - 12 November 2026
- When Shared Hosting Is the Right Choice for Your Website - 11 November 2026
Bogdan Sandu is a seasoned designer who has been designing websites since 2008. Renowned for his expertise in logo design and visual branding, Bogdan has developed a multitude of logos for various clients. His skills extend to creating posters, vector illustrations, business cards, and brochures. Additionally, Bogdan's UI kits were featured on marketplaces like Visual Hierarchy and UI8. He also wrote in the past years on sites like Design Your Way, WebDesignerDepot, WPDean, Designmodo, Speckyboy, Slider Revolution, and more.
You Might Also Like
