What Is the Seattle Seahawks Logo?
The Seattle Seahawks logo is a stylised seahawk head in profile, drawn in navy, wolf grey and action green. The bird was redrawn in 2002 and took on its navy, grey and green colours in 2012. It belongs to the Seattle Seahawks, the NFL team from Seattle, Washington, which was awarded an expansion franchise in June 1974 and played its first season in 1976.
The club plays at Lumen Field in Seattle's SoDo district, its home since 2002. The bird's head is available as the Seattle Seahawks logo SVG.
Seattle Seahawks Logo Facts
| Introduced | 2002; recoloured in 2012 |
| Symbol | A seahawk's head in profile |
| Logo type | Pictorial mark: a stylised bird |
| Earlier mark | The 1975 logo based on a Kwakwaka'wakw mask |
| Owner | Seattle Seahawks |
What the Seattle Seahawks Logo Means
The logo is rooted in the art of the Pacific Northwest. The original bird of 1975 was based on a Kwakwaka'wakw transformation mask, carved on the northeast side of Vancouver Island. Closed, the mask shows an eagle; opened during a dance, it reveals a human face inside. The eye-socket lines, the eyelid lines and the hooked beak of the first logo all came from it.
The NFL's designers worked from books, not from the mask itself. Seahawks general manager Thompson said at the time that the intent was to follow Northwest Indian culture, but no condition was placed on the designers. The 2012 colours were chosen to bring Northwest tones of green, grey and blue into the team's look.
Seattle Seahawks Logo History
The first logo was unveiled on 17 June 1975 and worn from the team's first game on 12 September 1976. Its source was an illustration in Robert Bruce Inverarity's 1950 book Art of the Northwest Coast Indians. Bill Holm, curator emeritus at Seattle's Burke Museum, later found the drawing in that book. A Seattle Post-Intelligencer article had made the link in October 1975, but it was forgotten for decades until the Burke Museum retold it in 2014. In 1975 the Quinault and Isleta artist Marvin Oliver also offered a redesign that followed northern Northwest Coast formline rules more closely.
The original bird was last worn on 6 January 2002. That year the logo and uniforms were heavily revised: the eyelid lines went, and the bird gained an arched eyebrow and a forward-facing pupil that gave it a more aggressive look.
In April 2012 Seattle unveiled a full uniform makeover by Nike. College navy and action green became the main colours, with wolf grey added as an accent, ending a decade of blue and silver. Feathers were added to the pants, a dozen on each leg, as a nod to the 12th Man, the fans who have officially been known as the 12s since 2016.
Two seasons after the recolouring, Seattle beat the Denver Broncos 43–8 on 2 February 2014 in Super Bowl XLVIII, the franchise's first Super Bowl title.
For more teams like the Seahawks, browse our sports logos.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Seattle Seahawks logo based on?
The original 1975 logo was based on a Kwakwaka'wakw transformation mask from Vancouver Island, found in a 1950 book on Northwest Coast art.
What colours are the Seattle Seahawks?
College navy, action green and wolf grey, adopted with Nike's new uniforms in 2012.
When did the Seahawks logo change?
The bird was redrawn in 2002 with a fiercer expression and recoloured in 2012.
Is the Seahawks logo an eagle or an osprey?
The mask behind the first logo depicts an eagle, while the logo catalogue Sportslogos.net describes the original bird as an osprey.