Atlético de Madrid Supporters to Vote on Returning to Old Crest

Supporters of Spanish La Liga side Atlético de Madrid will have the final say in whether the club returns to its old crest or not.

On June 22, on the recommendation of its Social Commission, Atlético opened a survey on its website asking supporters if they felt the club should reinstate the crest they used prior to 2017.

The survey ran over the weekend, and on Sunday, Atlético announced in an open letter that more than 61,000 members — 44% of the club’s total members — “expressed their desire for the club to consider the change”.

As a result, Atlético chief executive officer Miguel Ángel Gil has committed to convening the club’s administration council to “to launch a binding vote in which [supporters] can choose between keeping the current shield or reintroducing the previous one.”

“In the event that your decision is to return to the previous shield, I promise that the change will be carried out as soon as possible, obviously respecting the limitations of our sponsorship and licensing contracts.”
— Atlético CEO Miguel Ángel Gil in an open letter to fans (translated into English by Google)

*A history of Atlético de Madrid’s crests provided when the club modernized its crest in 2017. (SportsLogos.net files)*

Atlético’s crest has always been based on Madrid’s coat of arms, which features a black bear, a strawberry tree and a blue border with seven stars. When Atlético moved into its new stadium, the Estadio Metropolitano, in 2017, the club also took the opportunity to modernize its crest. The bear and tree were flipped horizontally and rendered in blue to match the border, a gold outline was removed entirely and the orientation of the stripes in the bottom half was changed so that the middle stripe was white instead of red.

*Madrid’s coat of arms. (Courtesy **Wikipedia**)*

According to Forbes, these changes have been unpopular since the unveiling. The debate heated up after Atlético unveiled its 2022-23 home kits, which featured wavy red and white stripes. In response, Atlético set up their Social Commission, made up of 10 club members, to discuss topics like this.

When the club insisted changing the crest wouldn’t be on the table, several members of the commission resigned, and supporters’ groups staged strikes. They held protests outside the stadium, and those inside waved flags with the old crest and refused to sing or cheer.

*Atlético de Madrid supporters displaying a flag with the club’s old crest. (Courtesy **helloofans.com**)*

Atlético hasn’t completely shelved the old crest since the change, either. In 2021-22, they released a fourth kit that featured the old crest on the chest. It was part of a set of kits that marked 75 years since the officially changed its name from Club Atlético-Aviación to Club Atlético de Madrid.

No concrete timeline was given in the open letter from Atlético on when the administration council would convene or when the fan vote would be held.

UPDATE (Thursday, June 29): Atlético de Madrid has started the online vote, asking supporters to choose between the current crest and a version of the old crest without the gold outline.

The vote is open to all Atlético members who joined before 10 a.m. CEST (4 a.m. ET) on Wednesday, June 28, and runs until 2 p.m. CEST (8 a.m. ET) on Friday, June 30.