I Biancorossi
Founded: 1912, Stadium: Stadio Brianteo, Capacity: 15,039
AC Monza was founded in 1912 as Monza F.B.C. At times during the first two decades of the 21st century, they faced financial issues; they were declared bankrupt twice, in 2004 and 2015. In 2018 Silvio Berlusconi toke over the club. From the club’s founding Monza’s colours were blue and white, but were changed to red and white in 1932; as a result, the team are nicknamed i biancorossi (the white and reds). The team have rivalries with Como, Pro Sesto and Pisa.
Monza’s first crest as designed in 1920. It depicted a blue shield with a red border, with a golden Corona Ferrea inside. The text “A.C. Monza” was written in black inside a white horizontal band on top of the shield. The crest remained in use until 1932, when Monza’s colours changed to red and white. In 1933, the badge became circular and was vertically divided into red and white halves, and included golden initials A.C.M. with the crown at the bottom. During the 1937-38, the badge’s shape was changed from a circle to an oval, keeping the same details. It stayed the same until 1945, following World War II, when it changed to a rectangular shape that was divided into red and white halves. The white half on the left featured the club’s name and the founding year, while the crown was placed in the red half. Following Monza’s promotion to the Serie B in 1951, the crest again became oval shaped and the text’s orientation was changed from vertical to horizontal. This design lasted five years until Monza’s merger with Simmenthal, when the logo became more detailed; the badge was shaped like an ox head, including the horns. The colours were placed diagonally, similarly to the 1951 crest, with the letters S (for Simmenthal) and M (Monza) being placed on top of each other in the badge’s centre. The crown was placed above the letters. After the end of the merger in 1966, the badge became a stylised golden Corona Ferrea with red details. The epigraph of the club’s name was placed in the inner circle. In 1984, Monza’s logo went back to a rectangular shape.A white inverted chevron was placed inside, with the words “Calcio” and “Monza” placed on each side of the chevron. A vertical sword, a reference to Estorre Visconti was placed inside the downwards-pointing triangle formed by the chevron. The crown formed the hilt of the sword. In 2000, the logo changed to a rounded-bottom shield; a red crown was placed in the top third on a white background, while the bottom two-thirds contained the words “Calcio Monza 1912” written in white on a red background. The logo remained until 2004, when a new crest was introduced: it was a more rounded red shield with white details; “AC Monza Brianza” was written on top, and a depiction of a sword “cutting through” a crown – both drawn in a minimalist style – was placed on the bottom. Monza celebrated their 100th anniversary in the 2012-2013. A modified version of the logo was announced to mark the occasion: a gold crown with red and white gems was placed on top of the crest. “MB” (standing for Monza Brianza written in red was placed below the crest, surrounded by “2012” to the left, “1912” to the right and “100” on the bottom, all written in gold. Starting from the 2013-14, Monza’s logo included a red shield with the club’s name (“AC Monza Brianza”) in white capital letters inside. The Corona Ferrea was placed above the shield and two white “Visconti” crossed swords were included inside the shield. The logo underwent a minor redesign in 2015, when the two crossed swords were replaced with a vertical sword, and the text on top changed to “S.S.D. Monza”, to reflect the club’s name change. In 2016 and 2019, the text in the badge was changed to “Monza” and “AC Monza”, respectively. In 2021, a thin red outline was added to the logo, enclosing the already present white border surrounding the red shield. The same year, Monza published a brand manual, including information about the geometrical construction of the badge, the fonts used by the club, and their colour dubbed “Rossa Monza”.
