On March 29th, the franchise that began its life as the Cleveland Browns and moved to Baltimore where the team took on a new name and identity, celebrated its 29th Birthday. As such, the Ravens have now officially begun their 30th season — a milestone more and more teams are using to celebrate big dates (as opposed to celebrating the team’s 30th anniversary, which wouldn’t be until March 29, 2026).
And of course, the team has unveiled a special “30 Seasons” logo, which they debuted on their “birthday.”
March 29, 1996. The day we became the Ravens.
As we celebrate our birthday, we’re excited to embark on our 30th season. 💜 pic.twitter.com/M9d5vTpRT5
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) March 29, 2025
The Ravens, who were named following a poll in The Baltimore Sun inspired by Edgar Allan Poe (“The Raven”), have won two Super Bowl championships, in 2000 and 2012.
The logo is in the shape of a shield, with Roman numerals representing their two Super Bowl winning seasons (XXXV — 35, and XLVII — 47) at the top of the shield, with 30 SEASONS (and the years 1996 and 2025) at the base of the logo, on a ribbon.
“Ravens gives us a strong nickname that is not common to teams at any level, and it gives one that means something, historically, to this community,” the late Modell stated in 1996.
Per the team, “Our 30th season isn’t just a notable milestone for the organization, but a moment to celebrate an incredible journey we’ve shared with our fans and community,” Ravens Senior Vice President of Marketing Brad Downs stated. “We’re excited to recall upon the passion, success and fond memories that have brought us to this point, while also looking forward to our future with even greater enthusiasm.”
It’s a nice looking logo. The team hasn’t officially announced that the Ravens will wear this on their jerseys, but in 2005 the team wore a 10th Season logo.
In 2015, the Ravens wore a 20th Season logo on their jerseys.
So we can expect the team will wear their 30th Season logo on their jerseys as well.
Obviously the 30th Season logo will look a little different when it’s rendered on a patch, but here is the progression of the three logos marking the 10th, 20th and 30th seasons for the Ravens:
I get that teams are wont to celebrate “xxx seasons” versus a specific anniversary, since the franchise can “celebrate” the “xxxth season” all year long. And indeed, the Ravens noted that in recognition of this milestone, they will
host a series of giveaways and sweepstakes in 2025, providing fans a chance to win 30th-season memorabilia and participate in unique experiences. Special-edition merchandise will be available online and at retail stores throughout M&T Bank Stadium, while fans can also expect unique digital and social media content celebrating the team’s historical moments. Additionally, new graphics and signage will be displayed at M&T Bank Stadium, and there will be exhibits in the Ravens Mobile Museum that commemorate the 30th season at events and on gameday.
As far as anniversary (or seasons) logos go, this one is actually pretty nice. It’s not easy to make black and purple (and metallic gold) work well, but the Ravens have managed to do so for 29 years, and this logo is pretty sharp. The only thing I am a tad bit surprised about was the decision to use the Arabic numeral “30” vs. the Roman “XXX” which would have been more consistent with the prior two logos. I like the “30” better (and the team has used Roman numerals for their Super Bowl winning years), and I hope it looks as good when rendered on a patch as it does in the graphic.
Your thoughts?
Still hurts 30 years later. A lot. I always wonder what might have been.
I disagree. Black and purple are both dominant colors. I don’t think they ever work well together. As bad of a combination as black and royal blue.
IIRC, the Irsays moved out the morning of March 29, 1984.
I think the Ravens have probably played more games in Baltimore than the Colts did by now.
Indeed they have: 468 games (268-199-1) in 29 seasons compared to the Colts’ 423 (222-194-7) in 31 seasons, not counting playoffs. Of course, the Colts only played 12 games a season from 1953 to 1960, and 14 games from 1961 through 1977, whereas the Ravens have never had a season with less than 16 games.
TBH: “Triple X ” is always tricky. Don’t blame them for going with the “30”.
Maybe to avoid all the triple-XXX memes?
Yeah, I thought about that, but if the NFL could use XXX for Super Bowl 30, then I’m sure the Ravens could weather a few triple-x jokes. I would have liked the consistency with keeping the Roman numerals, but it’s not a deal breaker (for me) either.
And it’s a really nice looking “anniversary” patch to boot.
True, but that was almost 30 years ago, and they didn’t have to worry about the name/logo getting meme’d to death for an entire season. I’m not saying it was the *right* decision, but I can see why they did it.
Bear in mind, this is the same league that broke years of Super Bowl numbering tradition for the 50th game because they didn’t want it to be a giant “L.”
My bigger question is why does the Ravens anniversary logo only seem to pay homage to the red/white portion of the Maryland flag, but not the yellow/black?
While it’s understandable the NFL wanted to avoid associating the Super Bowl with the shape of an “L” on the forehead, they also wanted to take advantage of the big “50s” on either side of every stadium’s midfield logo.
The best birthday logo for the Ravens so far, I like it a lot.
The Ravens also had a 25 seasons logo that they used in 2020, though it was never worn as a patch. Interestingly, they also went with Roman numerals for that logo too (XXV)
link
Personally I don’t like putting the SB Roman numerals in. Stars or some other symbol to represent 2 championships would have been cleaner.
As a Ravens fan, I really like it. It’s a sharp logo. Not too busy, either.
The font on the “30” looks similar to the ravens original number font on their 1996-1998 jerseys. I have a feeling a long awaited throwback could be in store this season. Here’s to hoping
These are pretty good. They succeed in avoiding one of the main pitfalls of these types of special occasion or celebratory patches, which is that it’s sometimes too hard to discern what exactly they’re commemorating. These are pretty easy on the eyes, and easy to understand without being distracting. I think a good logo shouldn’t need much (if any) explanation.
I really like the Maryland cross at the bottom. The only thing I’m not wild about is the Super Bowl championship numbers at the top, which I think are a little too hard to interpret. But overall, it’s a good logo.
Gold (or mustard) pants to come??
I’m rooting for this to happen!!