The Saint-Étienne Logo History, Colors, Font, And Meaning

The Saint-Etienne logo is one of the most recognized football crests in France and, honestly, across European football. It belongs to AS Saint-Etienne, a club founded in 1919 by the employees’ association of the Casino retail company in the Loire. The club took its current name in 1933, when it turned professional, and the badge has gone through about eight versions since then. Green has always been its anchor color. The current version, adopted on 1 July 2022 after a supporter vote, blends a shield shape with a gold outline and symbols drawn from the city’s coat of arms. It carries a blue-white-red star at the top, marking the club’s ten French league titles.

Few clubs in French football can match ASSE’s branding history. The badge has tracked nearly a century of shifts in design movements, from stripped-back early lettering to the leaping panther of the late 1960s. It sits alongside crests like those of Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais as a fixture in French football’s visual culture.

What Is the AS Saint-Etienne Logo?

The AS Saint-Etienne logo is a gold-outlined shield with green and white stripes, the “ASSE” initials, a tricolor star for ten league titles, and the palms, crown and crosses of the city arms. Supporters chose it in a 2021 vote, with 61% of nearly 16,000 votes, and it replaced the round 1990s crest on 1 July 2022.

The crest is a combination mark: a shield (coat of arms style) merged with custom lettering and symbolic imagery. It’s a registered trademark of AS Saint-Etienne, used on match kits, at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, on official merchandise, across digital platforms, and in club communications. A version enriched with oak and laurel branches, described as symbols of strength and eternity, is used mainly for institutional purposes.

How Has the AS Saint-Etienne Logo Evolved Over Time?

The ASSE badge has been redesigned around eight times since 1933. Early versions were simple. The mid-century brought shield shapes and vertical stripes. A panther appeared in 1968, disappeared, returned in the late 1980s, then left for good. The round crest of the 1990s lasted about 30 years before the current shield took over in 2022.

Dates for the older versions vary a little between logo histories, so treat the years below as approximate.

Original ASSE Logo (1933-1940)

Years Active: 1933 to 1940

The first badge appeared when AS Saint-Etienne turned professional and took its current name in 1933. It was a simple shield outline in green and white, with bands and the letters “ASSE”.

No fancy shapes. No mascots. Just the initials and the green traditionally linked to Casino, the retail company whose employees founded the club in 1919.

This was the entire identity. Clean, functional, and about as understated as you can get for a club that would go on to win ten French titles.

Interlocked Circles Logo (1940-1960)

Years Active: 1940 to 1960

In 1940, the club changed its logo. Logo histories show a more distinctive mark: the “ASSE” lettering set in a chain of green circles with white outlines.

The font got rounder and bolder. It felt different from anything else in French football at the time.

This period ended with the club’s first league title, won in 1957.

Green Shield with White Stripes (1960-1968)

Years Active: 1960 to 1968

The shield came back, according to the same histories. This version featured a green background with vertical white stripes running through the center.

The stripes are often said to echo the awnings of Casino grocery stores. It’s a popular story, but we couldn’t find a club source that confirms it. Either way, the stripes became a lasting motif that shows up in almost every later version of the crest.

There was something about the simplicity of this one. No text cluttering it up, just stripes and color. It looked strong on a jersey.

The Panther Logo (1968-1978)

Years Active: 1968 to 1978

This is the one people remember. In 1968, under club president Roger Rocher, the club put a black panther on the badge.

The panther was the nickname of the club’s star striker, Salif Keïta, “la Panthère noire”. One often-told version adds that a board member spotted a panther on an African postage stamp. The club ran a design contest at the Saint-Etienne École des Beaux-Arts, and Roger Viou is credited with drawing the models.

The result was a circular badge with a panther leaping alongside a football. It was also the first time both “ASSE” and “Saint-Etienne” appeared together. This logo coincided with ASSE’s most dominant era, when the club won eight league titles between 1964 and 1976.

By the way, the psychology of shapes here is worth noting. The circle communicated unity and completeness, while the leaping animal added energy. It worked.

Shield Logos (1978-1988)

Years Active: 1978 to 1988

After the panther years, ASSE returned to a shield. Logo histories show versions with a green background, a gold outline, green and white stripes inside a smaller inner shield, and the “ASSE” letters on a white banner.

This is the crest Michel Platini wore at Saint-Etienne until 1982. The overall look was more traditional, more “classic European crest.” It felt like the club was saying, “We have history now. We don’t need a mascot.”

Saint-Etienne won their tenth French championship in 1981, which earned the right to display a star on the badge.

Return of the Panther (1988-1992)

Years Active: 1988 to 1992

The panther came back for the 1988-89 season. This was a darker, more aggressive design, with a black panther and a football against deep green.

It only lasted a few seasons, but it stands out as one of the boldest design experiments in the club’s history. The contrast between the dark green and the white details made it genuinely eye-catching.

Round Crest (1992-2022)

Years Active: 1992 to 2022

The longest-running Saint-Etienne logo. This circular emblem brought together green and white vertical stripes, the “A.S.S.E.” initials in bold white lettering across the center, “Saint-Etienne” curved along the top, and the blue-white-red star for the ten titles.

The word “Loire” was added in 1993, at the request of the departmental council. Later, a slight 3D effect gave the badge some depth, but nothing major changed.

This crest lasted about 30 years. It became the logo most fans worldwide associate with Les Verts. If you’re searching for the old ASSE logo, this is usually the one. It was clean, readable, and worked well across everything from web platforms to embroidered badges on replica kits.

Current Shield Logo (2022-Present)

Years Active: 2022 to present

The club built the new crest through workshops in autumn 2021 with supporters’ representatives, partners, ambassadors and staff. Three designs came out of them, and fans voted until late November 2021. On 1 January 2022, ASSE revealed the result: option one won 61% of nearly 16,000 votes, ahead of options three (23%) and two (16%).

It takes the shape of a traditional coat of arms with a gold outline. The green and white stripes remain. The ASSE lettering and Saint-Etienne name are there. New elements came from the city’s coat of arms: two golden palms, a crown, and three small crosses.

The date 1933 appears on the badge. The blue-white-red star is now integrated into the top of the shield rather than floating above it, with a gold border.

The crest was adopted on 1 July 2022. By then the club had been relegated, so it debuted in Ligue 2 in the 2022-23 season.

What Do the Design Elements of the Saint-Etienne Logo Mean?

Every piece of the ASSE crest carries meaning tied to the club’s history, its city, and its footballing achievements. The green ties back to the club’s Casino origins and its “Les Verts” nickname. The star marks ten championships. The golden elements connect to Saint-Etienne’s civic identity.

None of this is accidental. Let me walk through it.

What Are the Saint-Etienne Logo Colors?

Green is the club’s primary color, traditionally linked to the Casino company whose employees started the club in 1919. According to color theory, green communicates growth, energy, and renewal.

Unlike most clubs, ASSE publishes its color codes. These come from the club’s 2022 brand charter:

• Vert Historique (green) – Hex: #1D995B | RGB: (29, 153, 91) | CMYK: (94, 9, 93, 1) | Pantone: 7482 C. The charter calls it the club’s emblematic color and the main color of the identity. This is the hue that defines Les Verts.
• Gold (Or) – Hex: #CDB789 | RGB: (205, 183, 137) | CMYK: (19, 25, 51, 5) | Pantone: 7502 C. The outline color of the crest.
• White – Hex: #FFFFFF. White pairs with green on the stripes. In terms of color psychology, white adds clarity and balance to the design.
• Blue and red (star only) – Blue #254D98 (Pantone 2728 C) and red #D2353B (Pantone 199 C). The charter says these two are used only in the star, never for text or backgrounds.

The charter also lists secondary colors: Anthracite #151515, a nod to the city’s mining past, a darker Vert Premium #006648, and a bright Vert Digital #54F6A0 reserved for digital use.

If you look at other clubs that rely on green as their primary color, like Sporting Lisbon or Werder Bremen, you will notice that the challenge is always the same. Green can look flat without the right secondary colors to create emphasis. ASSE solves this with white stripes and gold accents.

What Font Does the Saint-Etienne Logo Use?

The lettering on the crest itself is custom-drawn, and no typeface has been credited for it. It’s a bold sans-serif built for readability at small sizes. That matters because a football crest gets seen on everything from a sleeve patch to a stadium scoreboard.

For everything around the crest, the club’s 2022 brand charter names two typefaces: Apotek (condensed, in capitals) for headlines and claims, and Titillium Web for body text. Titillium Web is free on Google Fonts, so it’s the easiest match if you want something in the club’s style.

Earlier versions used simpler block lettering. The 2022 redesign refined the typography to create a clearer hierarchy between “ASSE” and the other text on the badge.

The spacing between characters is tight but legible. No serifs, no decorative strokes. Just functional lettering that works across print and digital.

What Are the Hidden Meanings in the Saint-Etienne Logo?

The vertical stripes are the most talked-about detail. Many fans repeat that they echo the outdoor awnings of Casino stores, connecting the club back to its commercial origins, though the club’s own materials don’t spell that out.

The 2022 crest added the two golden palms, crown, and three small crosses from the city of Saint-Etienne’s coat of arms. These were never part of the football badge before, and they tie the club directly to the city.

The year “1933” marks the club’s move to professional football under its current name. It grounds the crest in a specific moment in history.

How Does the Saint-Etienne Logo Compare to Competitor Logos?

In French football, Saint-Etienne’s crest sits in a category of its own. Many Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 badges lean toward circular designs or simplified modern shields. ASSE went the other direction with a traditional coat of arms shape loaded with civic symbolism.

Olympique de Marseille relies on its OM monogram. AS Monaco keeps a classic red and white shield with a crown. RC Lens leans into a blood-red and gold color scheme with a bold diagonal split. Each approach is different.

What makes the ASSE badge distinct is the sheer amount of symbolism packed into one crest. Civic coat of arms elements, the green and white stripes, a championship star, the 1933 date. It tells a more specific story than most football logos do.

Compared to rivals like Lyon, whose badge is cleaner and more corporate-feeling, Saint-Etienne’s crest feels more rooted in place. Whether that is better or worse depends on what you value. Some prefer streamlined. Some prefer layered with meaning.

The approach is closer to what you see in German football. Clubs like Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund also load their crests with regional identity markers.

The clean lettering and simple stripe pattern also help on screens. The crest stays legible at small pixel sizes, which is one reason the design works well as a social media avatar. In print, though, a low-DPI copy will soften all that gold detail.

What Cultural Impact Has the Saint-Etienne Logo Had?

Les Verts’ badge is more than a football crest in the Loire. It is a civic symbol. The club dominated French football from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, winning eight league titles between 1964 and 1976, and reached the 1976 European Cup final. That run made the green shirt and the club’s badge a nationally recognized image.

The panther from 1968 became an icon of that golden era. Even though it hasn’t been on the official badge since the early 1990s, supporters still use it on banners, tattoos, and unofficial merchandise. Groups like the Magic Fans and the Green Angels keep the imagery alive inside the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

The 2022 redesign brought something new. By pulling elements from the city’s coat of arms, the crest now represents Saint-Etienne the city, not just Saint-Etienne the football club. That is a meaningful shift. It says the club sees itself as part of the place, not separate from it.

How Does the Saint-Etienne Logo Fit Into the Overall Brand Identity?

The ASSE crest is the center of a broader identity system that includes kit design, stadium branding, digital presence, and merchandise. Everything flows from the badge.

Green and white dominate home kits. Away kits usually change things up, and alternate colors vary from season to season.

The gold accent color in the 2022 crest gives the club more flexibility in merchandise and print materials. It adds a premium feel without abandoning the core green-and-white identity. The club’s 2022 brand charter, its public set of brand guidelines, sets out the full color palette, typefaces, the “Vert & Fier” club signature, and the topographic lines of the city’s seven hills used as a graphic motif.

Stade Geoffroy-Guichard (nicknamed “Le Chaudron”) carries the branding throughout. The institutional version with oak and laurel branches shows up in formal contexts.

The logo connects to a network of related brand elements: the “Les Verts” nickname, the panther as an unofficial symbol, and the star representing ten titles. Together they form an identity that covers match days, retail, and civic representation.

How Should the Saint-Etienne Logo Be Used?

ASSE’s brand charter covers how partners should use the badge. For everyone else, here is general advice.

Good practice:

• Use clean, official versions of the crest
• Keep the original colors; the charter forbids changing them
• Use the institutional version (with oak and laurel) only for formal contexts

Avoid:

• Distorting, tilting, or splitting up the elements of the crest (all three are forbidden in the charter)
• Placing the logo on busy backgrounds that reduce legibility
• Using outdated versions of the badge for current-season materials
• Reproducing the crest on commercial products without a licensing agreement

The ASSE crest is a registered trademark. Using it on merchandise, packaging, or promotional materials requires the club’s permission. Editorial use, such as a news story or an article like this one, is generally accepted.

If you are working on a project that involves the logo (say, a fan site or a media piece), use a vector version of the file to avoid quality loss when scaling. A bitmap file like a JPEG will blur at larger sizes.

FAQ on the Saint-Etienne Logo

What does the AS Saint-Etienne logo look like?

The current ASSE badge is a shield with a gold outline, green and white vertical stripes, the “ASSE” initials, the palms, crown and crosses of the city arms, and the date 1933. A blue-white-red star sits at the top for the club’s ten French titles.

When was the Saint-Etienne logo last redesigned?

The current crest was adopted on 1 July 2022. Fans chose it from three designs in a vote that closed in late November 2021; the result was announced on 1 January 2022.

Who designed the AS Saint-Etienne logo?

No designer or agency has been publicly credited for the 2022 crest. It came out of club workshops with supporters, partners and staff, and the winning design took 61% of nearly 16,000 fan votes.

What did the old ASSE logo look like?

From 1992 to 2022, ASSE used a round crest with green and white stripes, “A.S.S.E.” across the center, “Saint-Etienne” at the top, “Loire” at the bottom (from 1993), and the tricolor star.

What do the green and white stripes on the ASSE crest mean?

Green is the club’s identity color, traditionally linked to the Casino company whose employees founded the club in 1919. The stripes are often said to echo Casino store awnings, though the club hasn’t confirmed that story.

Why is there a star on the Saint-Etienne football crest?

The star represents ten French championship titles. Saint-Etienne won its tenth in 1981, which earned the right to display a star. It’s colored blue, white and red like the French flag.

What are the official colors of the Saint-Etienne logo?

The club’s brand charter lists Vert Historique #1D995B, gold #CDB789 and white. The star uses blue #254D98 and red #D2353B, which are reserved for the star only.

Who designed the famous panther logo for ASSE?

Roger Viou is credited with drawing it after a contest at the Saint-Etienne École des Beaux-Arts in 1968. The panther was the nickname of star striker Salif Keïta.

What font does the Saint-Etienne logo use?

The crest lettering is custom-drawn. The club’s brand charter uses Apotek for headlines and Titillium Web, a free Google Font, for text, which helps keep a clear visual hierarchy in club graphics.

How many times has the Saint-Etienne logo changed?

About eight times since 1933. The designs have ranged from simple initials to circles, panthers, shields, the round 1990s crest, and the current coat of arms shape.

What do the golden palms and crosses in the new ASSE logo represent?

They come from the city of Saint-Etienne’s coat of arms. Two golden palms, a crown, and three small crosses were added in the 2022 crest to tie the club to its city.

Conclusion

The Saint-Etienne logo has been through around eight versions across nearly a century of French football. Each one tells a piece of the story, from the simple initials of 1933 to the civic coat of arms shape used today.

What makes the ASSE emblem different from most French crests is how much it ties the club to its city. The green and white stripes, the 1933 date, the golden palms pulled from the municipal coat of arms. It is a badge that says where it comes from.

The 2022 redesign, voted on by supporters, proved that a club can update its brand style guide without losing what made the original work. Green stays. The stripes stay. The star stays. Everything else just got sharper.

Sources

• AS Saint-Étienne, Charte graphique 2022 – https://www.asse.fr/img/mediakit/ASSE_CHARTE_GRAPHIQUE.pdf
• SportsLogos.Net News, AS Saint-Etienne Unveils New Crest as Voted on by Fans – https://news.sportslogos.net/2022/01/02/as-saint-etienne-unveils-new-crest-as-voted-on-by-fans/soccer/
• 90min, ASSE : l’histoire du logo de l’AS Saint-Étienne, d’où vient-il et sa signification – https://www.90min.com/fr/posts/asse-l-histoire-du-logo-de-l-as-saint-etienne-d-ou-vient-il-et-sa-signification
• Wikipédia (FR), Association sportive de Saint-Étienne – https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_sportive_de_Saint-%C3%89tienne

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Bogdan Sandu

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.

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