Historical Crests: Atalanta B.C.

La Dea (The Goddess)

Founded: 1907, Stadium: Gewiss Stadium, Capacity: 21,747

Atalanta was founded in 1907 by students and is nicknamed La Dea, The Nerazzurri and the Orobici. Atalanta is sometimes called “Regina delle provincial” (queen of the provincialclubs) to mark the fact that the club is the most consistent among Italian clubs not based in a regional capital. The club is also famed for its youth academy, which has produced several notable talents who have played in the top leagues of Europe. Atalanta has a long-standing rivalry with nearby club Brescia. Meetings between the two clubs are sometimes known as the “Derby Lombardo” (Lombard Derby).T his rivalry has its roots in a historical feud between Bergamo and Brescia dating back to the Middle Ages, beginning in 1126 when Bergamo expanded its territory by acquiring land put up for sale by Brescia. Atalanta’s home kits have characteristically had black and blue vertical stripes since their adoption in the 1920s. Slight variations in thickness of the stripes have existed over the years, though the club never strayed far from the classic design for its home kits. Atalanta has had five crests since its foundation, all of which depict some combination of the team’s name (except between 1984 and 1993), colors, and (since 1963) the Greek mythological athlete Atalanta, from whom the club derives its name as well as its nickname “La Dea”.The club’s first three crests were shields featuring the name Atalanta on top, colored stripes on the left, and another symbolic representation on the right. The original crest dates back to 1907 and had the club’s original black and white stripes alongside a blue patch. In 1963, after the club won the Coppa Italia, the crest was redesigned to feature black and blue stripes alongside a running girl representing Atalanta. The crest’s colors and representation of Atalanta changed again in the 1970s, though followed the same basic shape as the 1963 version. In 1984, the crest underwent a major redesign: the club’s name and the running girl’s body were removed from the crest and its shape was changed from a shield to a circle. This “classic” crest featured a white silhouette of Atalanta’s head on a black and blue background, enclosed in three concentric white, black, and golden yellow circles. Black, blue, and white were retained—as the club’s colors—while yellow was added to represent the golden apples, which according to mythology, Hippomenestossed to Atalanta to distract her and defeat her in a footrace. The club’s modern crest was designed in 1993. It incorporates the 1984 crest into its design, though tilts Atalanta’s head and lacks the yellow circle. The name Atalanta and founding year 1907 were added respectively above and below the circle, which is enclosed in an elipse featuring the same split black and blue background as the 1984 design.

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