Miami Dolphins Logo
Florida’s oldest American football team is the Miami Dolphins. They are famous for their Super Bowl victories in 1972 and ’73, as well as for their record-breaking coach Don Schul and outstanding quarterback Dan Marino. The Orange Bowl in Miami served as the Dolphins’ home field from 1966 through 1986. The team relocated to the Hard Rock Stadium afterward. The club consistently made the playoffs. Numerous American football fans came to the Dolphins stadium in Miami to watch their games starting with the first NFL games.
Information
Miami Dolphins were created in 1966 in the city of Miami. Part of the AFL East for the first few years of their existence, they joined NFL at its reorganization in 1970. Since then, they’ve played as part of the AFC East. They are one of the less successful teams on the NFL roster.
They haven’t been very successful in their early years, although the team soon came under the coaching of Don Shula, a man considered one of the most prolific coaches in NFL. He trained the team until mid-90s, achieving good results in the early 70s. That included a runner-up position in ’72 and two wins in ’73 and ’74.
Most of their AFC wins happened in the 70s and early 80s. It’s also during early 80s that they scored several runner-up positions, but nothing eventful happened to them after that. In late 90s, the team became more prolific under the coach Jim Johnson, but the streak of several later coaches failed to make them victorious again.
They are particularly known for their defense, a legacy of their 30-year relationship with Shula, who was known to specialize in defense. They haven’t really changed their strategy even into 21st century.
They are extremely popular in Miami and parts of Florida, being one of three teams (in addition to Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jacksonville Jaguars) in NFL to come from this state. Among the three, the Fins are by far the most successful. Because of it, they have a large following in South Florida.
Meaning and History
The Miami Dolphins were born in 1966 out of a desire to expand the American Football League. The team was founded by Joseph Robbie and Denny Thomas, who paid $7.5 million for the right to play in the AFL. However, later Robbie became the sole owner of the club. Just two years after joining the NFL, the Miami Dolphins had their 100% season in NFL history with a 17-0 win-loss record. In early 1990, team owner Joe Robbie passed away. Four years later, the Dolphins were acquired by athlete Wayne Hayuzeng. Later, coach Jimmie Johnson became the new owner. Miami Dolphins was chosen as the team’s nickname since dolphins are among the fastest and brightest animals. Even a shark cannot keep them from fighting back.
What is Miami Dolphins?
The Dolphins are Florida’s oldest professional team. Don Shula, the NFL coach with the most victories, led the team for the majority of its existence. As of this point, Miami is the only NFC team to have finished the season with a perfect record.
1966 – 1974
A teal-colored dolphin with some white highlights became the symbol of the team. It is no wonder they chose it because this animal is smart and fast. The dolphin is wearing a white football helmet with an orange and teal accent and “M” on the side of it. To add more color and interest to the emblem, the designers placed a round, orange outline of the sun in the background. It has a solid outline with thick, short rays. Multiple thinner rays are drawn between the thicker ones to create a perfect circle.
1974 – 1989
The team decided to give the emblem more defined lines and, most importantly, make the dolphin bigger in comparison to the sun in the background. It seems as if the dolphin jumped higher than before. The orange color does not look as dark anymore.
1989 – 1996
The changes this time were minimal, yet made a significant difference. The dolphin was done in a darker shade of teal, while the orange also looked deeper. The lines on the helmet were not only darker but also thicker. Overall, the logo got a more defined appearance. Another update was the dolphin itself, which got stretched out vertically and looked skinnier and longer.
1997 – 2012
The dolphin was redrawn again. It got a more determined appearance thanks to the addition of dark blue details and white highlights. Its eyes were more defined while the shape got wider and shorter. The helmet acquired a little more detail. The sun has also changed its shape as there were no more thin rays, while the color looked even deeper. It looked more minimalistic and modern.
2013 – 2017
Although the original idea was preserved, the dolphin and the sun looked very different. The animal now looked like it was swimming rather than jumping with its tail curved upwards and head pointed up. Moreover, the dolphin lost its football helmet. The sun outline has also changed its shape as there were sun rays of different lengths.
2018 – Today
The logo got redesigned a little. The animal changed its shape just a bit, mainly its tail got thinner. The sun also had a reddish shade of orange, which gave the logo a more daring appearance.
Font and Color
The logo of the team has not changed much over the many years of its existence. It features a teal dolphin that looks great with an orange sun in the background. The orange color, which changed its deepness and shade several times, typically stands for excitement, determination, and success, while the teal symbolizes trustworthiness and reliability. When it comes to fonts, the Miami Dolphins logo featured only the initial “M”, which is a basic serif typeface.
Helmet
The Fins only use one headgear variety. It’s dominated by the color white, which includes a white hard shell and the faceguard of the same appearance. They use dark turquoise and orange on these helmets – particularly for the team symbols. They are either the regular turquoise dolphins with orange suns or a peculiar version where the dolphin also wears a small helmet.
The last touch is the orange stripe running through the middle of the helmet, with two slightly thinner lines of dark blue on each side, with some white between them.
Uniform
The Fins prefer a simple color palette of aquatic turquoise and white. It reflects in their uniform, and one of the common signs associated with this team is a peculiar aqua blue jersey. It’s typically worn with white pants, both components with orange stripes on their flanks.
The two less common varieties include a fully white outfit (not counting orange and blue for stripes and numbers) and a reversed style white jersey with blue pants. A fully aquatic outfit is rare, but known.
