Broncos Logo: Old and New Compared

The two logos this question is about

The usual “old versus new” Broncos comparison is the Denver Broncos’ two primary NFL symbols: the 1970–1996 charging orange horse with a cowboy rider, and the 1997–present horse-head profile. The current mark is a cropped stallion head facing right, filled in white, with an orange mane and a dark navy outer contour. The earlier mark is a full-figure illustration of a rider on a leaping orange bronco. Those two drawings are the live identity and the heritage identity most people mean when they weigh the redesign.

The subject here is visual identity, not a specific downloadable file. College Broncos programs, helmet decals, wordmarks, and unofficial redraws can share a horse and still be separate assets. File type alone does not prove official geometry or permission to reuse either mark.

The older primary mark: charging horse and rider

From 1970 through 1996 the club’s main symbol was a full-body bronco in a leaping pose, carrying a cowboy. Orange carries the horse; white picks out the mane, tail, and rider. The figure moves to the right, front legs lifted, hindquarters driving. The cowboy hat adds a high peak that is easy to spot in the silhouette. Reins, the rider’s torso, and the horse’s legs sit inside that outline, so the mark behaves like an illustrated mascot as much as a modern sports badge.

• Subject: horse plus mounted cowboy, shown as a complete figure.
• Fill: orange body with white highlights on mane, tail, and rider.
• Pose: a rightward leap, which is how the drawing shows speed.
• Silhouette cue: the hat brim and crown rise above the horse’s head.
• Interior load: rider, tack, and legs add many small shapes.
• Tone: western, character-led, and openly illustrative.

That interior load is the practical limit of the old mark. At large size the rider and the leap tell a clear story. At icon size, stitch count, or a single-color print, those inner pieces crowd together. Heritage jerseys and throwback lockups still use this drawing because the hat-and-horse outline is the era’s signature, provided the artwork is given enough room.

The current primary mark: horse-head profile

In 1997 the primary symbol was cropped to head, neck, and mane. The horse still faces right. The face and neck read as white; the mane reads as orange; a dark navy stroke holds the outer contour. An eye, nostril, and open mouth supply expression once the mark is larger than a small icon. The mane is a cluster of pointed, wind-blown locks that shoot back and up, so the drawing keeps forward thrust without legs or a rider. The result is a compact mass that still feels in motion.

• Subject: head and flowing mane only.
• Direction: profile facing right, consistent with the older leap.
• Color roles: white for form, orange for the mane, navy for the outer edge.
• Expression: eye, nostril, and open mouth at medium size and above.
• Motion cue: mane locks blown backward rather than a full leaping body.
• Tone: aggressive, streamlined, built as a badge rather than a scene.

This is the mark on current helmets, contemporary merchandise, and most official lockups with the wordmark. Removing the cowboy and the legs spent the silhouette on the head’s expression and the mane’s spikes. That is the core of the redesign: same animal and same rightward energy, rebuilt as a tighter sports identity.

Old and new, side by side

Design feature	Older mark (1970–1996)	Current mark (1997–present)
What you see	Full horse and cowboy in a leap	Horse head, neck, and mane
Primary-use era	Heritage / throwback identity	Live club identity
Color emphasis	Orange as the body of the drawing	White form and orange mane inside a navy contour
How motion is drawn	A posed leap	Mane blown back from a thrusting head
Silhouette	Tall figure with a hat peak	Compact profile with mane spikes
Detail load	High: rider, legs, tack	Medium: eye, mouth, mane locks
Personality	Playful western mascot	Aggressive stallion badge
Small-size behavior	Inner shapes clog without extra size	Holds as one mass if the mane spikes stay distinct
Typical asset role	Classic and anniversary art	Current identity system

What the redesign changed in use

The 1997 change is a crop-and-intensify move. The cowboy, the leap, and the orange body were the old mark’s signature. The new mark keeps the horse and the left-to-right drive, then puts the drawing’s energy into the mane and the head. Orange still signals “Broncos,” but it occupies less area: it is concentrated in the most kinetic part of the symbol, while navy frames the badge and white carries the animal’s form.

For vector production, treat the two drawings as different identity systems. The current horse-head is the live mark for contemporary work. The horse-and-rider belongs in heritage, throwback, and historical presentations. Keep them out of the same lockup; they do not share a color story or a silhouette language. The current mark’s fewer interior regions generally reproduce more cleanly in one-color, embroidery, and small digital icons, as long as the navy outline and the mane spikes are not over-simplified. The older mark needs more physical size, or a carefully simplified heritage cut, before the rider and legs stay legible.

A downloadable SVG or EPS does not, by itself, establish official construction or a right to use the trademark. Start from licensed artwork for the era you need, and check the mark at the actual sizes you will print, stitch, or display.

What this comparison cannot settle

Exact path construction—stroke weight, corner radii, and the number of mane locks—requires official line art, not a screenshot or a filename. Official color codes live in the club’s identity documentation and are not inferred here. Whether a given file is true vector artwork, a traced raster, or an unofficial redraw is a file-quality question, separate from the design history above. Fan concepts and rumored replacements remain unofficial unless the club issues them as the primary mark. Other Broncos programs that also use a horse are separate identities.