Crest vs copyrights - more than a symbol?

Tis the season to be bringing out next summer's Euro 2012 kits. We know the drill. They look exactly the same, and come August, you can get them for a fiver from Sports Direct (or St James' Park by then).

But the Polish effort this time round has caused controversy by removing the traditional white eagle emblem with a generic effort, purely for the fact that this new logo can be copyrighted easily, thus making it easier to punish counterfeiters. This change has caused such uproar that even the recent friendly with Hungary was part-boycotted by fans. Perhaps it has worked, as the Polish FA have decided to 'review' the change... Which will certainly give Nike a headache, as the shirt was meant to have been released on November 15th...

Is that an eagle in the design?

We've seen this before, for exactly this reason, in England. In 2002, Arsenal changed their crest to the current badge for the sole reason that they believed they were losing valuable (unspent) revenue by having counterfeiters and unlicensed traders use the former logo. Ironically the thing that seemed to rile most fans was that the cannon was changed to face the opposite direction, geographically away from Tottenham...

Most clubs have changed their badge over the years, and in the end, the fans just get on with it - imagine if Chelsea still had their original crest that resembles Captain Birds Eye? Or something like a rugby ball, which seemed to signify their playing style at the time...

1905-1952                                           1952-1953

Of course the badge is now seen tattooed on the great unwashed/loyal fan* (*delete as applicable), or a swimming pool shape for affluent types - David Dein's swimming pool features a rather large cannon - this is true, I've seen it. It's also a symbol we associate with the players who wear it.

Goal celebrations (a whole other blog I've yet to come up with) can give a deep insight into that player's psyche. But how often do we see said player kissing the badge in order to try and prove that they really love the club? Or that they really don't need the pay rise their agent is scrabbling around for? They must taste good anyway.

That'll show those pesky lip-readers

Perhaps the Polish boycott will have an influence. Will Nike decide to reproduce tens of thousands of shirts? Or shall we just look forward to the next redesign of the England badge? Lions are endangered after all...

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