Why do Real Madrid have a crown on their badge, and which other teams also have one?

A look at the history of the Real Madrid badge

As one of the biggest clubs in the world, Real Madrid‘s badge is one of the most famous in football and it contains a crown, above the letters M, C and F.

The explanation for why this is the case starts with the fact that the club’s original name was Madrid CF, back when it was founded in 1902.

The club’s crest has always had those three initials, with slightly different designs over the years. At first, there wasn’t a circumference, for example.

In 1908, it was decided to enclose these three letters in a hollow circle, with the edges coloured blue, just like the letters, which in the beginning were also blue.

Then, in 1920, King Alfonso XIII awarded a royal title to the club for the work done to promote the city of Madrid all over the world. From that moment, the club was renamed Real Madrid CF.

Given that those in charge at Los Blancos liked the badge the way it was, with the letters sitting nicely, they didn’t want to add an R. So, instead they marked the awarding of the royal title by adding a crown.

Briefly, during the Spanish republic, the club had to remove the references to the royal title, adding a stripe across the shield instead.

Later, after the Spanish Civil War, the club decided in 1941 to put the crown back on top of the badge and also to keep the stripe.

The Real Madrid badge really hasn’t changed much since then, with the most recent change coming in 1998 when Lorenzo Sanz was president and when the stripe was changed to blue following an agreement with Adidas.

Which other Spanish clubs have a crown on their badge?

In LaLiga Santander, Spain’s first division, there are six other teams that have crowns on their badges, as they also have royal titles.

These clubs are Real SociedadReal BetisReal Valladolid, Celta VigoReal Mallorca and Espanyol.

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