This is the second instalment of our series ranking all 70 primary CFL logos, so if you haven’t already checked out part one, please do so here.
A reminder of the ground rules: no alternate or specialty logos were included — just primary logos. Votes were cast by 12 individuals with at least one representing all nine CFL markets. We also didn’t include teams that never played a game.
Most of these images came courtesy of SportsLogos.net, though others were sourced from teams directly or elsewhere online. To keep things neutral, all logos were presented on a plain white background.
Without further ado, here are logos 50 through 31.
50. Toronto Argonauts (1991-94)
For a franchise with some incredible boat and shield logos, this one pales in comparison. The colour is nice and the font is sharp, but it’s literally just a letter. If the CFL were a baseball league, this logo would be solid. As this is football, we expect more.
49. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2012)
Speaking of letter logos, this is the first of three bland ‘W’s from the Blue Bombers. This colour scheme only lasted one year, which is kind of a shame considering it features both of Winnipeg’s primary colours — neither of which the other ‘W’ logos do.
48. Toronto Argonauts (1873-1955)
Most vintage logos didn’t fare well on our rankings but this one sailed ahead of its counterparts. This logo set the stage for several of Toronto’s future emblems and remains one of the most iconic in Canadian sports. In hindsight, however, it seems odd for a logo to spell out the team’s motto while resorting to an acronym for its actual name.
47. Las Vegas Posse
The Posse gave us many things: Anthony Calvillo, Shonte Peoples, an unforgettable rendition of ‘O Canada,’ and gold as the must-wear colour of Las Vegas sports teams. We also got this logo, which looks like it should have belonged to local law enforcement instead of a listless football team that practiced in a parking lot.
46. CFL (1955-68)
There’s a lot to unpack here. Incorporating almost every colour of the rainbow was a bold choice, as was the decision to unnecessarily spell out “Canadian Football League” directly under the accompanying acronym. The blatantly hand-drawn nature of this logo feels simultaneously like a strength and weakness, giving it undeniable charm while also making it feel hopelessly amateurish. If nothing else, this logo certainly stands out.
45. Calgary Stampeders (1996-2012)
This is essentially the same as Calgary’s current logo, only without the thick shadow on the bottom. It’s fine, if a little bland. Based on this logo, you’d never know the Stampeders wear red, though that’s also an issue with the club’s current logo.
44. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2013-15)
We’ve reached the second of three ‘W’ logos from Winnipeg and the first one that contains no gold. This symbol was used for the last three years the Blue Bombers wore navy blue before returning to royal blue, which was a positive change. The shade of blue shown here is so dark that this logo almost looks black and white.
43. Ottawa Rough Riders (1986-91)
We’ll reiterate here what we said about Calgary earlier: putting your logo onto a helmet doesn’t make it a better logo. Ottawa’s ‘R’ is iconic but it deserved better than this low-effort emblem. The No. 5 also seems strangely out of place. Why not put a No. 0 to hint at “Ottawa” or omit the number altogether?
42. San Antonio Texans
Look at the size of that freakin’ hat — you’d never have to worry about getting a sunburn wearing that thing. In hindsight, teal was an odd choice for this team, considering the colour has nothing to do with cowboys or Texas. If nothing else, San Antonio deserves bonus points for having the only CFL logo to ever depict a handlebar moustache.
41. B.C. Lions (1954-66)
B.C.’s original logo included a depiction of a full mountain lion, which is fitting as the team was actually named for “The Lions,” a pair of peaks that sit along the North Shore Mountains of Vancouver. Though the club was wise to eventually modernize its look, this was a strong preliminary logo for one of the CFL’s younger teams.
40. Calgary Stampeders (1945-71)
This is our highest-ranked entry that predated the 1950s, making it arguably the best vintage logo in CFL history. Call us crazy, but the Stampeders should consider returning to a modernized version of this. It should also be noted that this logo overlapped with Ottawa’s ranchhand logo for 11 years, meaning two different CFL teams had red-and-white logos depicting a man riding a horse for a sustained period of time.
39. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1950-85)
This logo is still easily recognizable given how closely the team’s current emblem still resembles the original. Fun fact: Jake Gaudaur, the late CFL player, team president, and league commissioner, is credited with creating this logo.
38. Shreveport Pirates
If you were to Google “most ’80s thing ever,” this logo would probably be among the top search results, which is wild considering it debuted in 1994. Everything about this emblem is bewildering: the shape, the colours, the bizarre geometrical shapes. It doesn’t appear the designer made any attempt to incorporate classic pirate or football imagery, yet there’s something about this logo that still works.
37. Edmonton Football Team (1970-87)
Edmonton has three oval-shaped ‘EE’ logos in its history and this is the first one to appear on our rankings. This emblem is classic for a reason — it’s simple, clean, and saw the team win five straight Grey Cup championships from 1978 to 1982. With that said, it’s probably best that this logo was later modernized into something a little more contemporary.
36. Birmingham Barracudas
This logo probably has the largest horizontal-to-vertical ratio of any emblem in the history of professional sports, which might explain why the team so seldom used it. Birmingham only sported the fish on its helmets, while its jerseys bore an alternate logo that read ‘Cudas.’ This logo is bad but has an undeniable so-ugly-its-good quality to it.
35. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1990-2004)
This is essentially the same logo Hamilton had for 35 years before this, only the circle was gold instead of white. It was smart for the Tiger-Cats to refresh this logo in 2005, but this classic emblem has held up well.
34. Montreal Alouettes (2000-18)
This logo is emblematic of Montreal’s ultra-successful Anthony Calvillo era but it ain’t all that. Are the three red streaks supposed to indicate speed or does the bird have a long mullet? Where are the bird’s feet? Why does the bird have teeth? These are legitimate questions that deserve answers.
33. B.C. Lions (1978-89)
This was the first version of what has since become B.C.’s classic logo, though the colours were inverted — instead of an orange lion accompanied by black lettering, this emblem featured a black lion and orange text. Unlike the club’s modern look, this logo was featured exclusively on white helmets.
32. B.C. Lions (1990-2004)
This logo is almost identical to the team’s current emblem, which no longer has three dots on the lion’s snout and bears a slightly more vibrant shade of orange. Other than that, it’s seemingly the exact same.
31. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2016-present)
This is Winnipeg’s third and final ‘W’ logo, none of which cracked the top 30 because — let’s be honest — they’re boring. This one at least got the colours right as the royal blue pops far more vibrantly than navy blue. Despite the improvement, this is the lowest-rated current primary CFL logo on our rankings.
Tune back in tomorrow for logos 30 through 16.
