Hibernian Football Club has had many iterations of its badge throughout its history.
Although for many years no badge adorned the playing kit, certain crests did appear on some matchday programmes and the Club’s stationery.
A circular badge featuring a thistle with the letters HFC over it and Edinburgh underneath appeared on club correspondence and can also be seen on the front of the Coronation Cup Final programme of 1953.
Variations on this logo appeared on player cards of the time as well as commemorative badges from European competitions such as the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1960.
In the early 1960s the Club was also using a modified version of the coat of arms of Edinburgh with a football and the words “Edinburgh Hibernian Football Club” added.
Neither of these crests appeared on playing kit but as football changed and badges became more prominent the Club started season 1979/80 with a crest to the left-upper chest of the jersey.
The badge consisted of a football garlanded with a laurel and a crown on top with Hibernian FC above and Edinburgh below, in a circle.
One popular theory is that the badge was inspired by Real Madrid’s crest just as Hibs were said to have taken inspiration from Arsenal when introducing the white sleeves 40-years earlier.
The new badge when first added to the shirts was effectively a stamped monochrome image but it was constantly updated and by the mid-1980s it was a fully colourised embroidered version on a white background.
However when the Lord Lyon pointed out that Hibs were using the regal crown on the badge without permission, new owner David Duff decided to rebrand the Club.
A fans’ competition resulted in a new badge that was viewed as “modern and representative of Hibernian at the end of the twentieth century.”
The outline was also immortalised in the girders of the Famous Five Stand and remains there to this day.
The crest featured on a wide range of memorabilia including the jersey and was worn by the Skol/League Cup winning side, but many fans felt it paid little attention to the Club’s history and traditions.
In autumn 1999 it was announced that a new badge would be chosen from supporters’ suggestions to mark the Club’s 125th anniversary.
At the turn of the Millennium, Hibs’ fourth official badge was unveiled, combining the original harp, the ship of Leith, Edinburgh Castle, and a football to represent the Club’s roots.
The new badge embraced the Club’s history as well as its geographical base and was worn on the team’s kit.
The story doesn’t end there though.
A mosaic incorporating a harp previously found at the entrance to the south enclosure had been removed during the 1950s and legend has it that a curse was placed on the club claiming that the Scottish Cup would not return to Easter Road until the harp was reinstated to the stadium.
The current crest incorporating the harp was mounted on the Main Stand in 2016 a few months before the Scottish Cup was finally brought back to Leith.
