How Ronaldo's former football club packed a 120-year legacy into a stylish modern rebrand

Sporting Clube de Portugal branding.

Sporting Clube de Portugal is celebrating its 120th anniversary with a fresh new brand evolution, shaped by the club's iconic Code. A blend of heritage and the pervading spirit of fans, the new SCP brand is a triumph in design with heart and purpose that speaks through creativity.

While there's no formula to creating one of the best sports logos, SCP's new crest is packed with subtle meaning that elevates the design beyond pure aesthetics. Sleek, distinctive and powerful, the new brand identity shines in its ability to evolve without losing the original spirit of SCP's iconic history.

(Image credit: JKR)

Created in collaboration with global branding agency JKR, the new brand identity centres on the club's 5 core symbols, with the Porta 10-A, the Stripes, the Shield, the Crown, and the Lion forming a visual expression of the club's Code. Inspired by the 1945 emblem, the new crest is an artfully crafted combination of these core elements that create the heart of the brand.

(Image credit: JKR)

An elegant pattern is woven throughout the identity, inspired by the Porta 10-A gate where players enter Estádio José Alvalade, while the iconic Shield draws on the club's heritage and the wider Portuguese visual language. Sitting upon it, the Crown cleverly reps the SCP acronym, displayed in the contemporary new font, Sporting Sans. The lion represents the club’s fans, drawing from the previous five crests, while the green and white stripes inspired the brand's dynamic motion design.

(Image credit: JKR)

“This was not a case of starting from scratch. It was about staying faithful to the club's legacy and true to its loyal fans, while attracting and remaining relevant to the next generation and wider culture. Our job was to build a brand system that carries the spirit of Sporting CP forward without limits, a visual language as distinctive and ambitious as the club itself," says Sean Thomas, global executive creative director at JKR.

(Image credit: JKR)

For more design inspiration, take a look at this new logo design that breaks so many rules (and somehow, still works) or check out Polaroid’s provocative new anti-AI billboard.