Old School Design: Montreal Expos

In today's Old School Design, I wanted to take a look at one of Major League Baseball's strangest logos and a team that had a great graphic and uniform history. That team is the now defunct Montreal Expos. The Expos had one of the most unexplainable logos in sports history and had some crazy uniform looks as well.

Let's start with the logo. Is it an M? Is it MEB for Montreal Expos Baseball? Is it something in French? Whatever it is, I spent a lot of time as a child trying to figure out what the elements of the logo meant. For a long time I though it was ELB, which made no sense at all, but I guess my young mind couldn't process everything going on there. I'm sure some of you out there know the story on the logo. No matter what it said, I always liked the logo and was fascinated by it.

Now on to the uniforms. Who can forget the Expos uniforms from the 1970's? The bright red, white and blue colors. The over the shoulder sleeve stripes and best of all, the crazy three color paneled hat. The images of Gary Carter, Andre Dawson and Tim Raines will always be etched into our memories wearing these classic uniforms. The uniforms also came in a powder blue version as well. I still can't get my mind around Peter Edward Rose in these classic Expos colors.

Though the Expos are now in the history books, only remotely represented as the current Washington Nationals, their logo and uniform looks will always be remembered as true Major League Baseball classics.

Comments

[Mark]

Awesome that you thought it was "elb". I did, too. I remember having my baseball cards and having no idea why the Montreal Expos would have "elb" on their hat. I still remember my mom correcting me that it was an "M". So you're not alone!

[Will]

When I was a kid, I thought the logo looked like something that came out of a tube of toothpaste.

[Daniel J Leonard]

Fantastic!
Growing up in Pittsburgh, PA in the 1960's, the 1st game I went to was in Forbes Field, 1969 against the 'new' team, from Canada, the Montreal Expos! Your article is the first I've heard explaining the logo as an 'M'. I too, thought it was e, l, b, for what I thought was, Expos League Baseball. Funny.

[Fred D]

I've always tought it was a pretty neat logo. As a Montrealer, maybe I can help you understand it. There's an e for 'expos', there's a b for 'baseball' and together with the white shape, they form a M for 'Montreal'.

I don't know about the USA, but Expos gear is very popular nowadays in Montreal. Much more than when the team was still playing. That's pretty ironic considering money made from these shirts and hats goes right in the MLB's pockets!

[Jim Ransdell]

Fred-thanks for the info on the Expos logo, it has fascinated me for a long time.