The saga referred to as “CrestGate” is finally over. Less than three weeks after its official re-brand, the Washington Commanders have altered and corrected its official crest to the delight of many fans.
The Commanders posted the altered crest featuring the years of the correct championship-winning seasons on the outer circle.
“We heard you loud and clear. Going forward, our crest will reflect our Super Bowl victories using the year from that regular season,” the Commanders announced.
The Commanders have started the process of updating the crest online and with vendors, per NFL.com’s Nick Shook.
“We have begun the process of updating our crest online and with vendors,” Washington announced in a statement released Tuesday. “For fans that have pre-ordered a jersey, the jersey will feature the updated crest and will begin shipping by early July. Licensees are in the process of creating new merchandise with the revised crest and the new merchandise will be in market as soon as possible.”
Washington revealed its new name, logos and uniforms on Feb. 2. The re-brand received a mixed reaction particularly with the name and uniforms. However, nearly all Washington fans were not pleased with the choice of years of the team used to highlight their three Super Bowl wins.
The original crest read the years of “1983, 1988 and 1992” to reflect the calendar years in which the Super Bowl was played and won. Yet, the NFL and its teams usually refer Super Bowl championship teams to the year of that respective regular season.
For example, the 1983 Washington team lost in the Super Bowl. The 1992 Washington team went 9-7 and lost in the divisional round of the playoffs.
After realizing the mistake, the Commanders attempted to fix the crest with the Roman numerals representing the three Super Bowl titles. However, the NFL denied Washington’s request. The Roman numerals pertaining to the Super Bowl are an intellectual property of the league and are not permitted to be used by individual teams.
The league noted to the Commanders, they were allowed to alter the crest with the preferred championship years, but there was no budging on the Roman numerals. Ultimately, Washington decided to fixing the years.
The Commanders had to file for a new trademark for the adjusted crest, according to The Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala.
Washington ushered in the most pivotal offseason in franchise history with an error-filled reveal. The mistaken years on the crest only laminated how much the reveal was considered a blunder.
Not everyone will like the name or uniforms. But at least the organization listened to the fans and corrected the crest. Maybe now we can all move on towards other pressing issues such as the latest investigation into owner Dan Snyder and finding a long-term solution at quarterback?
