Spanish La Liga side Atlético de Madrid will revert back to a previous version of its crest after an overwhelming majority of supporters who participated in an online vote cast their ballots in favor of the change.
The vote was held between Wednesday, June 28, and Friday, June 30, and was open to any supporters who had become Atlético members prior to the vote.
According to the club, 88.68% of the votes cast were in favor of returning the previous version of the crest.
As a result of the vote, the previous version of the crest will once again become Atlético’s official crest starting on July 1, 2024. It will be used in the Estadio Metropolitano, on signage, on the club’s digital channels, in video games and on the club’s kits starting with the 2024-25 season.
“The Red & White family has set an example of passion and love for Atleti, participating massively and without any type of incidence in such an important matter. This fact once again confirms the enormous commitment of our members to their team and the existence of different sensitivities that we must respect because they all work towards a common good: Atlético de Madrid.”
— Announcement on Atlético de Madrid’s website
A total of 77,690 Atlético members cast ballots in the vote, which is 56% of the club’s total membership. Of those who voted, 68,894 voted in favor of reverting to the old crest.
On June 22, on the recommendation of its Social Commission, Atlético conducted an online survey asking supporters if they felt the club should consider reinstating the crest they used prior to 2017. More than 61,000 members “expressed their desire for the club to consider the change.”
As a result, Atlético chief executive officer Miguel Ángel Gil 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.”
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.
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.
“Our current badge will become part of the family of badges and emblems that have accompanied us throughout our history,” Atlético said in its announcement of the vote results. “… The philosophy of Atlético de Madrid is to embrace and remember its history, which begins a new stage with the return to the previous badge.”
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