
The Richmond Kickers, the oldest team in the third-tier USL League One, launched a new logo set earlier this week. This is the club’s third logo design since its founding in 1993.
Among the notable changes is a new interlocking “RK” glyph at the center of a new crest, and updated colorway that re-introduces navy blue. Under the previous brand, the club’s colors had been red and white.
The club’s previous logos are shown below. Their first logo was used from 1993 through the 2011 season, and their second from 2012 through the 2024 season.
The Kickers’ new identity is decidedly more “international” than its past looks. According to the press release, the interlocking RK is meant to evoke “the strong connection between club and community.” Interlocking monograms are common in international soccer, with notable examples including Rangers FC in Scotland, Italy’s Inter Milan, and several in Brazil such as Vasco da Gama, SC Internacional, and Fluminense, among others. Examples in the US are more sparse, though — Real Salt Lake and Houston Dynamo are the only teams to use the motif in MLS, while Hartford Athletic and Rhode Island FC in the USL Championship are the only teams to use interlocking letters in the USL’s two professional tiers, the Championship and League One.
The legs of the “R” and the “K” are described as “flowing” to “represent the falls of the James River,” along which Richmond was settled, according to the team’s press release.

I really dig the kangaroo as a secondary mark here. It’s a side of their team name that they haven’t explored previously, and will probably look good on jerseys and other team merchandise. In fact, I think all applications of the logo will look good. It’s certainly more aesthetically pleasing than the previous primary mark. I assume the K in the old logo is supposed to be made up of flying soccer balls, but they look more like comets to me, and the reintroduction of navy blue is welcome.
The Kickers are also leaning heavily into “93,” a nod to their founding year (and maybe a nod to the fact that they’re 21 years older than the next oldest team in League One), and have included versions of the secondary marks both with and without the “93”. This seems like overkill. Do we need a version of the kangaroo logo leaping over the 93? Do we need a version of the interlocking RK with the 93 next to it?
But is it a better, more recognizable logo for the Richmond Kickers soccer team? I think it can also be argued that the new identity feels more generic, and loses some of the minor league charm that the old logo had. It also doesn’t help that they’re facing stiff competition from other teams in USL League One. On aggregate, I think USL League One has the best logos and crests in US soccer, and they rival many top European and South American leagues. Forward Madison, Union Omaha, One Knoxville and my beloved Portland Hearts of Pine (winners of the inaugural Uni Award for “Best New Logo”) are all better and more unique — I don’t think the Kickers new marks rise to their level.
But what say you?
Noice! The Henny Derby is going to look especially good this season.
The Richmond district in San Francisco was developed by an Australian who named it for the Richmond neighborhood of his Melbourne home town. Interesting that there is an Australian connection to this Richmond as well.
This RK design reminds me of the New York Giants red design field goal NY Logo showcased here a couple of days ago
* re design
A Richmond transplant here, I am happy to see navy introduced (re-introduced) as a color as I won’t wear red, even if it’s team gear. I wasn’t a fan of the pinball flipper logo but this one does seem to trend more generic though I think it will grow on me.
I loved the pinball flippers, it was a truly unique logo. The new logo falls in line with what soccer/football teams crests are supposed to look like.
It might be because I’m i Europe so have a different view on football/soccer team logos, but I really dig this (including the ’93 – loads of European team merch includes references to the founding year).
To me, the main logo hits a sweet point between classic soccer team logos (as Anthony noted in the article), classic baseball logos & the recent run of circular logos with strong wordmarks around the circumference.
NYCFC also use an interlocking crest