Crystal Palace Football Club has undergone numerous badge transformations since establishing their visual identity, reflecting the club’s changing fortunes and aspirations throughout their history. The evolution from the Glaziers to the Eagles represents one of English football’s most dramatic rebranding exercises, orchestrated by visionary manager Malcolm Allison in the early 1970s.
Early Crests and Identity
Palace were relatively late in establishing a formal crest, with the club’s initials simply embroidered onto shirts from the 1935–36 season onwards. The first proper badge, featuring the façade of the Crystal Palace exhibition building, appeared in 1955 and remained until 1964. This ornate Victorian structure, from which the club took its name, was constructed for the 1851 Great Exhibition and housed 900,000 square feet of glass, inspiring the original nickname “the Glaziers”.
| Period | Crest Design | Key Features | Nickname |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1935-1955 | Initials only | CPFC embroidered | The Glaziers |
| 1955-1964 | Palace façade | White banner with club name | The Glaziers |
| 1972-1973 | Circular badge | CP initials, “Glaziers” text | The Glaziers |
| 1973-1987 | Eagle on ball | Benfica-inspired eagle design | The Eagles |
| 1987-1994 | Eagle with Palace | Rounded Crystal Palace building | The Eagles |
| 1994-2013 | Aggressive eagle | Darker shades, fiercer eagle | The Eagles |
| 2013-2022 | Modern design | Simplified, cleaner lines | The Eagles |
| 2022-Present | 1861 crest | Changed founding year from 1905 | The Eagles |
The Malcolm Allison Revolution
The defining moment in Crystal Palace’s visual history occurred in 1973 when Malcolm Allison transformed the club’s entire identity. Inspired by Portuguese giants Benfica, who used an eagle to represent strength and freedom, Allison replaced the “Glaziers” moniker with the powerful “Eagles” nickname. The 1972 circular badge reading “The Glaziers. Crystal Palace FC” was discarded in favour of a large eagle perched upon a football on a red background.
Colour Evolution
Palace’s colour scheme has evolved considerably over 120 years. The club’s minute book from 5 July 1905 records that colours would be “Cardinal and Blue jerseys”, with cardinal consistently used until 1937. Red and blue vertical stripes were briefly introduced in 1937–38 before white shirts appeared. The club experimented with claret and blue from 1949–1955 before Allison’s permanent red and blue transformation in 1973, inspired by Barcelona.
Modern Era Updates
The 1987 badge married the eagle with the Crystal Palace façade, creating the template still used today. Chairman Ron Noades commissioned a fiercer, more aggressive-looking eagle in 1994, which lasted until 2013. The 2013 redesign modernised these elements with cleaner lines whilst maintaining the core imagery. Most significantly, June 2022 saw the founding year changed from 1905 to 1861, recognising the original amateur club that participated in the first FA Cup.
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