What Is the UEFA Champions League Logo?
The UEFA Champions League logo is the starball, a football made of eight stars, set above the words Champions League. The UEFA Champions League is the European club football competition organised by UEFA.
The competition began in 1955 as the European Champion Clubs' Cup and took its present name in 1992.
The starball also appears on its own, on the official match ball and on the centre-circle banners at matches. The logo is available as the UEFA Champions League logo SVG.
UEFA Champions League Logo Facts
| Designer | Phil Clements at Design Bridge, London |
| Introduced | 1992 |
| Symbol | The starball: a football made of eight stars |
| Logo type | Combination mark: symbol and wordmark |
| Owner | UEFA |
What the UEFA Champions League Logo Means
The eight stars come from the brief. In 1992 UEFA's marketing partner TEAM was turning the European Cup into the Champions League. Craig Thompson's brief to designers included the line "eight star teams come together".
Phil Clements turned that line into a picture: a circle of stars, like the European flag, laid over the panels of a football.
Clements admitted the geometry does not quite work. A real ball seen from one angle would never show all eight stars, so, in his words, he "bodged them in". The result is a ball that doubles as a European flag.
The starball sits inside a wider identity created at the same time:
- The house colours: black and white or silver.
- An anthem by Tony Britten: adapted from Handel's 1727 anthem Zadok the Priest, first played in the 1992–93 season.
UEFA Champions League Logo History
The UEFA Champions League logo was created by Design Bridge, which won the job in a pitch run by TEAM in 1992. Thompson later recalled that the starball "was created, it was seen, it was approved with rapture".
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| November 1992 | The starball appears on a pitch for the first time, at Ibrox |
| 2001 | The first starball match ball |
| 2020–21 | TwelfthMan redraws the lettering |
| 23 August 2024 | UEFA launches the Kick of Light identity |
The first appearance was a centre-circle banner at Ibrox for Rangers against Marseille.
The stars took longer to reach the ball itself. Commercial issues held it back until 2001, when a starball match ball was used in the Bayern München against Real Madrid semi-final. That first ball was white with silver stars; black stars followed the next season.
The 2020–21 lettering has sharper wedge serifs inspired by the stars and proportions tuned for screens. The 1992 wordmark had been a modified version of the typeface ITC Novarese.
Kick of Light was made for the reformatted competition. The starball became a glass-like object with colour moving around the edges of its stars, but UEFA kept the logo itself unchanged.
Champions League Clubs
The starball sits above the crests of Europe's biggest clubs every season, from the Real Madrid logo and the FC Barcelona logo to the Liverpool FC logo and the Manchester United logo.
For more competition and club marks, browse our sports logos.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the Champions League logo have eight stars?
The 1992 brief for the logo included the line "eight star teams come together", and designer Phil Clements gave each of those teams a star.
Who designed the Champions League starball?
Phil Clements of the London agency Design Bridge, in 1992.
When did the starball first appear on the match ball?
In 2001, at the Bayern München against Real Madrid semi-final.
Did the Champions League logo change in 2024?
No. The 2024 Kick of Light identity reworked the starball's look in campaign graphics, but UEFA kept the logo unchanged.