DNA of Sports invites you to (re)discover the history of each franchise from the angle of branding and brand image. From the logo to the colors, including the jerseys and the origin of the names, the entire visual identity of the Las Vegas Raiders is dissected and explained in this article.
The name of the Las Vegas Raiders
When the team was founded in 1960, the Oakland Tribune held a contest to name the team football local. The winning name was SO the Oakland Senors. But hasfter being the butt of local jokes for a few days (and accusations that the competition had been rigged…), the owners SO changed the team name nine days later. She then became the Oakland Raiders. A name that had previously ended third in the competition.
Oakland Raiders therefore, beginnings in 1960 until 1981, then Los Angeles Raiders from 1982 to 1994. Then rback to Oakland from 1995 to 2019. Eyounfinal moving to Las Vegas since 2020. The Las Vegas Raiders franchise has moved a lot but has never changed its identity chart of one iota. The Las Vegas Raiders' primary visual identity has always been silver and black from the beginning. So much so that it became one of their nicknames: the Silver & Blacks.
The visual identity of the Las Vegas Raiders
Once the name is found, Chet Soda, the first general manager of the Raiders, hiringand then a well-known sports writer from the timeGene Lawrence Perry. The latter becomes the first public relations director of the Californian franchise. Perry (who was also the first employee of front office) commandand then a logo to an unknown artist from Berkeley. He wants something very specific to the logo: a helmeted man with an eyepatch et a chin square like that of Randolph Scotta well-known Western film actor at the time.
The owners then discover their logo: a pirate wearing a football helmet with an eye patch. The bottom is a balloon golden football behind which two black-edged white swords with golden hilts cross each other. This first version will travel almost intact to the present day, except for the balloon and the golden color which will disappear 2 years later.
An immortal pirate
The Raiders logo has a weight that other NFL franchise logos do not have: its duration over time. The pirate symbol has accompanied the Raiders team since their beginnings, a rather rare occurrence in the NFL.
The first logo is unique, creative and simple enough to remain timeless. It represents a pirate easily identifiable thanks to the two crossed cutlassers in the background. The pirate is presented from the front, with a pleasant face, with an eyepatch over his right eye. He wears a black leather helmet typical of the era. The color palette then extends from black to gray including the yellow of the ball and the handles of the sabers. A lack of taste which will be corrected upon creation of the second logo.
The Las Vegas Raiders crest, a unique visual identity
The first change comes just three years after the first logo. The team then decided to remove the yellow color from the logo. The Raiders keep their timeless mascot introduced in the first logo, but change the color palette. We move to silver gray and black, two colors which will then survive the decades down to us.
Now a wordmark is also included in the logo, with the team name displayed. The logo now includes a black and gray badge in which we can see the team name displayed in gray. The words “The Oakland” are displayed in an arc, while “Raiders” is displayed below in larger letters. The logo takes on a more serious and professional look.
The logo resists moving
In 1982 the Okland Raiders moved and became the Los Angeles Raiders for the first time in their history. Although they have changed cities and therefore adopted a new name, they are not changing the logo. The Raiders will play twelve seasons in Los Angeles before returning to their homelands, in Oakland, in 1995..
The visual identity of the Oakland Raiders is not changing. The Raiders are now strongly identified around the world thanks to their iconic logo. There is therefore no question of changing a visual that works!
Finally, at the end of 2019, the Las Vegas Raiders arrived. They obviously keep their logo, and only a few slight modifications are made. The color palette also undergoes a slight change, adding only a darker shade of gray to the pirate's helmet. Finally, a thick white frame now frames the exterior of the coat of arms.
The secondary logos and Wordmark of the Raiders
Although the current Raiders logo only uses one word for the wordmark, it is still bold and makes an impression. It uses a bold sans serif font and the letters are in capitals. The simple and effective font makes the logo easy to identify while providing character and a strong visual identity.
This year the Las Vegas Raiders unveiled the logo of theeur 65th season. Modeling Super Bowl logos, the team uses Roman numerals to celebrate their history. A marketing trick allowing you to announce three things at once: the number 65 for the franchise's anniversary, the number 60 for the number of years spent in Oakland, and finally, the L and the V which transforms into Las Vegas, the new home of the Raiders for 5 years.
Las Vegas Raiders outfits
The original Raiders uniforms were black and gold with gothic numerals, while the helmets were black with a white stripe and no logo. The team wore this design from 1960 to 1962. Very unusually, the jerseys displayed the player's full name on the back, before being reduced to just the last name in 1963. When Al Davis became head coach and manager General in 1963, he changed the team's color scheme to silver and black and added a logo to the helmet.
The Raiders' current silver and black uniform design has remained essentially the same since its debut. It consists of silver helmets, silver pants and black or white jerseys. The black jerseys have names and numbers in silver lettering, while the white jerseys have names and numbers in black lettering, with the silver outlining the numbers only. Originally, the white jerseys had black letters for names and silver numbers with a thick black outline, but they were changed to black with a silver outline for the 1964 season.
White & black an unrivaled recipe
In 1970, the team used silver numerals with a black outline and black lettered names for the season. In 1971, the team again displayed black numbers and has remained that way ever since (with the exception of the 1994 season as part of the NFL's 75th anniversary where they donned the 1963 helmets with the silver 1970 numbers and names in black letters).
The Raiders wore their white jerseys at home for the first time in their history on September 28, 2008, against the San Diego Chargers. For the 2009 season, the Raiders participated in the AFL Legacy program and wore 1960s jerseys for matches against other old AFL teams.
Color Rush without colors for the Raiders!
During the 2012 and 2013 seasons, the team wore black cleats as a tribute to Al Davis. The team then returned to white cleats in 2014, but with the NFL relaxing its rules on primary cleat colors, some players are wearing black or gray/silver cleats.
During the 2016 season, the Raiders have door their classic white jerseys with silver numbers as part ofu Color Rush. Unlike the regular uniforms which are paired with silver pants and black/white socks, the Color Rush jerseys were paired with white pants with silver stripes and all-white socks. Starting in 2018, the Raiders retired the white pants but kept the retro white jerseys, wearing them with silver pants and black socks in a style reminiscent of the 1970s.
The Las Vegas Raiders mascot
Raider Rusher is the official mascot of the Las Vegas Raiders . Knowne for his energetic personality, the Raiders introduced Raider Rusher for the first time in 2013. Watch your eyes, keep children away from the screens, this mascot is truly scary!
Raider Rusher has a head that appears three to four times larger than the rest of its body. He has a wide smile revealing all of his white teeth and he wears a strange spiked helmet on his head with what looks like large black goggles covering his huge blue eyes. The helmet also comes with a chin bar that has the Raiders logo on the side. The rest of the body is a normal person's body, from the hips down.
According to the Raiders, this mascot is a smiling young boy with a large head and a spiked helmet. Although the Raiders mascot is now in his eleventh season, the beginnings have been very difficult for him. When he was first revealed as the mascot, fans received many mixed reviews due to his unusual appearance.
In fact, in a 2016 Sports Illustrated poll, Raider Rusher turned out to be the worst mascot of any NFL team that has a mascot. One magazine even described the mascot as simply a huge head without a torso. His physical appearance has improved slightly over the years but something tells me that you will not order his services for your next birthday parties…
