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Toronto Legion Announce New Logo

Molholt

By Molholt
in VHL Team Announcements

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Molholt

Molholt 2,185

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This thing is no more.

 

Toronto Legion

 

Most would probably agree that the Toronto Legion have needed a logo upgrade for awhile now. I reached out to VHL Historian @Victor for more information. It seems that the Legion probably upgraded to this logo around S23-24, which is about the time that all eight of the original franchises got new, original logos. Previously they had been free to use any logo, stolen or not, which is exactly what they had been using. For most of their existence up until that time, this was the Toronto logo:

 

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Apparently there was also another unpopular logo that floated around the team for a couple of seasons after the first decade of the VHL, but this bird logo is what you'll find on the old Legion documents, such as retired numbers. Of course, this is a modification of the Washington Capitals alternate logo, which is why it was removed. However, I do think it has a better sense of symbolism for the Legion name than even the current logo, which I'll get into shortly. Either way, I decided when I took over that the team needed a new logo, a fresh take on one of the original VHL franchises. During this process, I spoke with VHL administrators, team icons and past GMs to get a sense of what the team should represent, why decisions were made in past logos and where the team should head. A special shoutout to @Knight, who multiple seasons ago was the biggest inspiration and help in determining a new direction. I think he really got where I was thinking the team should go and gave me some good feedback on my ideas. He may not remember it, but it stuck out to me. 

 

"Legion"

 

Nothing about the team name is really represented in the current logo. There is a military helmet, which I suppose is supposed to be the iconic imagery, but the truth is, that style of helmet and branch of the armed forces has almost no correlation with a Legion. Legion should harken back to an older time, specifically, the Roman Legion, the most notable usage of the term in all of history. What the current logo does, is reference the city, Toronto. I suppose that is fine - but I'd also say it is unnecessary. Look at the other VHL logos today, almost none of them, with the exception of maybe Davos, has any relation to the location of the team. The logos represent the mascot of the team. I think that is how it should be with a team logo. 

 

"For most of the Roman Imperial period, the legions formed the Roman army's elite heavy infantry" This is the route I wanted to take. The Roman Legion stood out above the rest as the best representation of this idea of a Legion. The most common definitions for Legion predominantly include vast numbers, specifically those who are ready for battle, etc. So focusing on the best of those groups was my plan. I decided to find the best way to represent these groups:

 

"From 104 BC onwards, each legion used an aquila as its standard symbol. The symbol was carried by an officer known as aquilifier and its loss was considered to be a very serious embarrassment, and often led to the disbanding of the legion itself. Normally, this was because any legion incapable of regaining its aquila in battle was so severely mauled that it was no longer effective in combat."

 

Aquila

 

An aquila seemed very important to a Legion, and so I went deeper into its meaning. "An aquila, or eagle, was a prominent symbol used in ancient Rome, especially as the standard of a Roman legion. A legionary known as an aquilifier, or eagle-bearer, carried this standard. Each legion carried one eagle. The eagle was extremely important to the Roman military, beyond merely being a symbol of a legion. A lost standard was considered an extremely grave occurrence, and the Roman military often went to great lengths to both protect a standard and to recover it if lost."

 

Now, I don't know if that was the intention with the original, stolen logo - but an eagle couldn't be anymore perfect to represent a legion. It symbolizes the group being one, it gives them something to protect and to serve, it gives them a reason to fight. What else could you ask for in imagery for your team?

 

Unsurprisingly, imagery related to legions depicted this well, an eagle was about the most common symbol used with legions. Such as:

 

220px-Scutum_Iovianorum_seniorum.svg.png phpcSBBIS.jpeg

 

At this point, I've probably rambled on long enough. The point is, I'm excited for Toronto to have a new logo, hopefully one that people like a lot more than the previous versions, but also one that fits the team and the name. I wanted to be fresh, but also reference the past. This isn't a completely new direction for Toronto, just a better take on an old one. This is the same Toronto Legion, but with a new mark on our chest. This, and we, are the Toronto Legion.

 

For the one person who actually read this far, without further ado, here is the new Toronto Legion logo:

 

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And some stuff for the forum skin guys:

 

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- Molholt

Toronto Legion GM

 

 

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https://vhlforum.com/topic/27086-toronto-legion-announce-new-logo/
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