Winnipeg Jets Logos Over the Years

The essential answer

Winnipeg Jets logos are not one mark that slowly aged. They belong to two clubs and several primary crests. The original Jets (1972–1996) are identified first by a circular badge in which a hockey player’s body is drawn as a jet, then by a 1990s fighter-jet redesign. The current Jets (2011–present) use a military-style roundel with a jet silhouette as the main crest, plus heritage and alternate versions that revive the older player-jet idea. Anyone comparing redesigns or requesting artwork needs to name the era and the role of the mark (primary, heritage, wordmark, or special-event), because those files do not interchange.

Scope: two Jets identities

The name covers two NHL identities with different ownership, uniforms, and logo systems. The original club played in the World Hockey Association and then the NHL, and left Winnipeg after the 1995–96 season. The current club began in 2011, when the Atlanta Thrashers franchise moved to the city. Atlanta’s bird mark and the later Arizona Coyotes identity are separate visual systems, even where franchise history overlaps. This guide is limited to marks issued under the Winnipeg Jets name.

Original club: the player-jet circular crest

The longest-running original primary is a circular pictorial crest. A hockey player is shown in profile, skating, with the torso, legs, and stick simplified into a jet fuselage, wings, and nose. WINNIPEG typically sits on the upper ring and JETS on the lower ring. Observed colors are red, royal blue, and white: a red outer ring, a white field, and a blue figure. The design is a visual pun—the player is the jet—rather than a lettermark or a realistic aircraft. That hybrid silhouette is the usual reference when people mean the classic original Jets logo.

Earlier original-era materials also used simpler wordmarks and jet-plane devices before the circular player-jet settled as the main identity. Exact first-use seasons for those opening marks are not specified here; club media guides and archived programs are the usual way to pin a given year. Mid-era finishing (outline weight, ring lettering, and how the figure sits in the circle) can vary by application even when the concept is the same.

Original club: the 1990s aircraft redesign

Late in the original franchise, the player-jet gave way to a more aggressive aircraft mark in the manner of early-1990s sports redesigns. The figure reads as a fighter-style jet rather than a skater hybrid, usually paired with a bold JETS wordmark and a darker navy-and-red palette. Speed, angularity, and a military-aircraft reading replace the circular pun. This is the last primary of the original club before the 1996 relocation. Precise path geometry and official color builds for that mark are not supplied in this brief; treat period photographs and issued crests as the evidence, not a reconstructed drawing.

Current club: RCAF-style roundel

The 2011 identity uses a roundel as the primary crest: concentric rings, a jet silhouette in the center, and WINNIPEG JETS lettered on the ring. A roundel is a circular military aircraft insignia. The Jets version is widely described as drawing on Royal Canadian Air Force markings. Observed colors include deep navy (club materials name Polar Night Blue), a lighter aviator blue, silver or grey, red, and white. The jet is a contemporary fighter silhouette, not a hockey player. Cropped uses of the inner jet appear as secondary devices; they are part of the same system, not a third club.

Heritage and alternate marks sit beside that primary. The current club has used a revival of the original player-jet circular crest, so the same pictorial idea appears in both eras with updated finishing. Maple-leaf and aviation motifs show up on shoulders and special-event uniforms, consistent with the air-force theme. Saying “the current Jets logo” is incomplete: the roundel, the inner jet, the heritage player-jet, wordmarks, and event crests are different assets.

How the marks compare

Era	Primary concept	Observed palette	Shape language
Original club, main years	Player whose body is a jet, inside a lettered ring	Red, royal blue, white	Circular pictorial crest
Original club, late years	Fighter-style jet with a Jets wordmark	Navy, red, white	Angular 1990s sports mark
Current club, 2011 onward	Jet silhouette in a lettered military roundel	Navy, aviator blue, silver, red, white	Concentric roundel
Current club, heritage use	Revival of the original player-jet	Updated finishing of the red-blue-white crest	Circular pictorial crest, reissued

What the redesigns change in practice

• Metaphor: the original primary is a pun (skater as jet); the current primary is an insignia (air-force roundel with a jet).
• Circle as a constant: both signature primaries are circular, which suits a chest crest, helmet, and puck-like lockup.
• Figure: hybrid skater, then a pure aircraft, then an RCAF-style jet; heritage use puts the hybrid back into the current wardrobe.
• Palette temperature: the original player-jet reads brighter royal and red; the current roundel reads darker navy with silver.
• One name, several files: a current-era heritage crest can look like the 1970s mark, so era labels on folders are not enough without the role of the asset.

Assets, vectors, and reuse

A filename or extension such as AI, EPS, or SVG does not prove the artwork is true vector geometry, that it matches official construction, or that it may be reproduced. Those are separate facts. Team marks are typically trademarked. For production work, request official artwork for a named era and role, and confirm license terms apart from how the file looks. Do not rebuild rings, jets, or lettering from a low-resolution photo and treat the result as club art. Color names used in club materials (for example Polar Night Blue) describe a specified brand palette; they are not a substitute for issued swatches on a given job.

A practical next step

Choose the family first: original player-jet, 1990s fighter-jet, current roundel, or current heritage player-jet. Then name the application (print, embroidery, screen, archive, or comparison board). If the task is a redesign review, judge silhouette, palette, and metaphor across those four families. If the task is production, obtain issued artwork and rights for that exact mark. Gaps that remain here are season-by-season dates for the earliest original devices, full catalogs of third jerseys and event crests, and official construction sheets (clear space, minimum size, and print builds). Those belong in club or rights-holder documentation rather than in a reconstructed drawing.