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Popular Culture Review
simplified logo for the team in the 1960s as we saw with the other teams. A
cleaner, bolder iconic cardinal profile emerged for this team.
St. Louis Rams
The Rams are another peripatetic team. The logo for its time in Cleveland
was the ram head. As a logo, the ram head of 1940 is too complex for television
broadcasts. The horns, eyes, and mouth make an unusual logo since no neck or
body is connected. It is somewhat garish. Used on the helmets, the team’s
curling ram horn logo during the Los Angeles years from 1946 to 1994, survives
to this day despite the team having changed its primary logo twice since moving
to St. Louis in 1995. The bright golden yellow horn against a field of blue help it
stand out on television. The move to St. Louis shows a tendency for teams to
demonstrate loyalty to their new home and fan base. In 1995, the St. Louis Rams
incorporated the famous Gateway, or St. Louis Arch, along with the city’s name
in the primary logo. The logo is not simple and brightly colored like the helmet
logo. The team simplified the primary logo to a contemporary-looking ram in
2000. In many ways, the Rams’ helmet logo of 1946, the ram horn, with its
simplicity and iconicity, put the team ahead of many others in terms of
innovation and adaptation to the television medium.
Indianapolis Colts
The Colts’ primary logo of 1953 was complex and small for television
coverage. So, the horseshoe was used on the helmets starting in 1953 and has
not been changed at all through the years. In 1979, the horseshoe became the
official primary logo of the team. A bright, blue-colored horseshoe, contrasting
against the team’s white helmet, made for excellent television viewing in blackand-white. Indianapolis did not make the same mistake other teams made by
creating a logo highlighting their city. The Colts maintained the same televisionfriendly logo of the horseshoe despite the move from Baltimore to Indianapolis
in 1984.
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns originally had their mascot, the “Brownie Elf,” as
their primary logo in the mid-1940s. A cartoonish caricature of an elf holding a
football was an odd symbol and too complex for television. Art Modell ended its
use in the mid-1960s and the orange logo-less helmet became the team’s logo.
Recently, however, the Brownie Elf has come back and is used on fan
merchandise and on team equipment (from sportslogos.net). In many ways, the
pure brown color makes this the simplest of all the logos. Named for the team’s
founder and first coach, Paul Brown, the use of this simple color logo links the
team to its history. Moreover, one of the team’s most famous players, running
back Jim Brown is coincidentally also linked to this color. It is during his time
on the team that it experienced some of its best years in the league. So, there is
also a link between the color brown, two important personalities on the team,
and the team’s glory years.