The Cincinnati Bengals were established in 1967. They joined the league as an AFL-affiliated team before the NFL and AFL merger in 1970. The Bengals have won the AFC Championship three times in their history but have yet to bring home the Super Bowl trophy. Cincinnati has played in the AFC Central and AFC North in the Super Bowl era. Since the realignment in 2002, the Bengals have played in the AFC North and have won the divisional crown six times. The Bengals' mascot name is Who Dey and the fans of the team are identified as Who Dey Nation.
The Evolution of the Cincinnati Bengals Logo
The ‘Bengals’ name was chosen by then team owner and general manager Paul Brown in honor of the previous football team that played in Cincinnati from 1937 to 1941. They had taken inspiration from a white Bengal tiger present in the city zoo and thus came the birth of a team named Bengals. The team has gone through many different primary logos ranging from tiger profile to wordmark to single alphabet but the color palette of orange and black has remained untouched forever.
1967 - 1969
The crouching tiger was running with the football under his arm while the helmet flew off behind him. The orange and black tiger was running in the right direction and both helmet and football were white.
1970 - 1980
The simple orange helmet was made the primary emblem. It had black Bengals lettering trimmed in white on it in uppercase.
1981 - 1996
The helmet and primary color palette remained the same. But instead of spelling, black stripes which resemble that of a tiger were imprinted on the helmet. In 1987, the overall look was refined and the stripes were made more modernized. Also, the face mask was changed.
1997 - 2003
The tiger’s head became the main attraction in 1997. The emblem featured an open-mouth tiger looking ferocious. Orange, black and white color schemes were used.
2004 - Present - Current Logo
The emblem was redesigned and the new logo features an alphabet B in orange. There are 3 black stripes on the letter with a thick white outline surrounding the whole logo. Since 2021, the orange shade of B got darker.
Cincinnati Bengals Alternative Symbols
The Bengals have only used previous primary logos as alternate logos in their history. The alternate logo that has been used from 2004 till today (August 2024) is the same as the primary logo of 1997 where the tiger profile was used. One other alternate logo that the team used from ‘97 till 2020 was of a leaping tiger in the left direction.
Cincinnati Bengals Anniversary Emblems
The Cincinnati Bengals released an emblem on the occasion of their 25th, 30th and 40th anniversaries.
1992
The silver jubilee emblem was round with a 25' number written at the exact center. The tiger’s front face was below the numerical. The full team name wordmark was written on the thick orange line inside the circle.
1997
The team name was written in big fonts with ‘97 alternate logo of leaping tiger printed below the wordmark. At the bottom of the logo was ‘30th Anniversary’ lettering in uppercase.
2007
The circle emblem had ‘40’ written in the middle with the team name and anniversary written in uppercase surrounding it. Behind ‘40’ orange background with black tiger stripes was present.
Cincinnati Bengals Helmet Design
The team has one of the most distinctive looks in the whole of football when it comes to their helmet. They have only changed their headgear design once since 1967. The color palette of orange and black has never left the helmet.
1968 - 1980
Cincy came out with a pretty basic look when they first introduced their helmet. It was a simple orange color with ‘BENGALS’ spelt out on it in black. For one year in 1980, the orange on the helmet got lighter in shade.
1981 - Present
The letter block on the helmet vanished and in came the iconic look of the franchise which has remained with the team ever since. The black stripes of the tiger were printed on the orange base.
Alternate Helmets
2022
The Bengals have only deviated from their primary helmet once when the league changed its policy of wearing only one helmet. The team did not want to lose the aesthetics of their famous helmet design, so only changed the primary color to white while the back stripes remained intact. White helmet is introduced to match the Bengals' all-white uniforms.
Cincinnati Bengals Uniform History
1968 - 1980
The original home jersey was black with white number blocks. Both sleeves had an orange stripe surrounded by two white stripes. The away version had a white base with black numerals. Both sleeves had an orange stripe complimented by black stripes above and below it. The team had one white pants which had black/orange/black lines going down the middle on both sides of the legs.
1981 - 1996
New stripes were introduced on both jerseys and pants in this set. The home and away set had a thick orange and black tiger stripe look separating shoulder and sleeves. The other notable change on both jerseys was the orange outline surrounding the numerals. The white pants had the same design as that on the shoulder.
1997 - 2003
There were only two noteworthy changes made in this version of the uniform set. The wide orange and black stripes on the shoulder were made narrower from the previous iteration. Another was the addition of a leaping tiger logo on both sleeves. The same shoulder pattern was also followed on both sides of the pants.
2004 - 2020
A modernized tiger-stripe was introduced which starts from the shoulder region and ends on the lower part of sleeves on both home and away jerseys. The white undersides were given on both jerseys. The numerals were given a shadow effect on both sets. The black pants were added into the rotation and had similar orange and black stripes to the white pants. The ‘B’ logo was present under the collar.
2021 - Present
The present uniform of the Bengals has been their most sleek-looking version to date. There is no more mixture in the color palette of stripes. The black jersey has orange stripes on the shoulder while the away version has black stripes. The shadow effect on the number blocks from the previous iteration is also removed. The pants also have tiger stripes on both sides of the legs.
Alternate Uniforms
The team has used orange and white uniforms in their alternate kit.
The orange base jersey had white undersides along with white block numbers. The numerals were given a shadow effect. The black and orange stripes along the shoulders resembled that of the 2004 version of the Home and the Away uniform set.
On the other hand, a white jersey has black lettering to go along with black sleeves. The black tiger stripes run on the shoulder while two white stripes are printed on the sleeves. Both jerseys have the ‘B’ logo below the collar.
FAQ's On Cincinnati Bengals Logo History
A. The Cincinnati Bengals are owned by Mike Brown.
A. The Bengals' alternate logo has a tiger in it but not the primary design.
A. The Cincinnati Bengals took the team name from the former football team that played in Cincinnati during the late 1930s.
