New York Cosmos - Colors and Crest

Colors and Crest

When the team was founded in 1971, Cosmos general manager Clive Toye chose the green and yellow of the Brazil national team as playing colors as part of his strategy to lure Pelé, one of that country's star players, to the United States. The club's initial uniform was all green with yellow trim, with the colors reversed on the road uniform. Coincidentally, the colors were the same as those of the previous New York NASL team, the New York Generals, which had folded after the 1968 season. When Pelé did come on board in 1975, the uniform was changed to all-white in imitation of his club in Brazil, Santos. The green and yellow elements were relegated to the trim. The green shirt was concurrently matched with white shorts to became the new away uniform. Uniforms designed by Ralph Lauren were used from 1979 to the end; the home uniform remained all-white, though with navy and yellow trim replacing the green and white trim of the previous outfit. The away uniform became navy shirts and shorts with yellow trim, paired with unusual yellow-and-navy hooped socks, which were later replaced with plain navy blue ones.

The artist commissioned by Toye to design the team's logo was Wayland Moore, a sports artist from Atlanta who had already worked on the logo, uniform and program covers of that city's soccer team, the Chiefs. Moore attempted to create a design that was simple, recognisable and inclusive of New York's many nationalities. The three colored "blades" surrounding the soccer ball in the center represented its movement, while the font originally used was chosen simply because it was easily legible on the uniform. The text on the logo was shortened to "Cosmos" in 1977, concurrently with the team's dropping of the "New York" label. The city name was restored two years later, but the badge remained unchanged.