A History of the UCLA Baseball Logo: From Script to Modern Emblems

UCLA's logo is instantly recognizable, not only within collegiate athletics in the United States but across the globe. The script, along with the powder blue and gold colors, makes any Bruin appreciate the history and success behind it. The UCLA Bruins baseball team, the varsity college baseball team of the University of California, Los Angeles, has a rich history reflected in its evolving visual identity.

Early Logos and the Enduring Script (1960s-1990s)

In 1964, UCLA introduced the cursive "UCLA" script, which became extremely popular and remained in use until 1995. This logo is uniquely UCLA.

A secondary logo debuted in 1964 featuring UCLA’s mascot, Joe Bruin, reminding everyone that UCLA is not just an athletics powerhouse, but that sports are fun. Who doesn’t like an image of a happy Joe Bruin leaning on the wordmark?

To complement the script, UCLA launched the “B” logo as a secondary mark. Featuring the powder blue and gold of UCLA’s colors, it’s memorable, much like a similar logo used for several decades by the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. This logo is still used today.

Modernization Efforts (1990s)

The 1990s saw a wave of logo updates across college and professional sports. In 1996, Joe Bruin returned in a more modern, cartoon-like form. Even the UCLA Bruins wordmark looked more animated than before, in this popular logo of the time.

Return to Tradition

Why change a good thing? That’s especially true for UCLA if it was using a great cursive script logo for decades. So, it essentially did not.

UCLA Visual Identity Elements

In terms of visual identity, the University of California in Los Angeles uses two official logos and the historical seal. The primary logo of UCLA is a clean and stable sans-serif lettering in the uppercase, while the second one is the smooth and bold script lettering.

Script Logo Evolution

The UCLA logo, used by the University in the 1960s, featured a bright script lettering in blue with a bold yellow outline. The redesign of 1978 introduced a refined and emboldened version of the UCLA badge, keeping the blue and yellow color palette and the smooth script style of the lettering. The lines of the characters got thicker and gained some curves on their ends, while the tail of the “A” was significantly cut.

In the 1990s the University of California in Los Angeles started using a strict serif inscription in the uppercase, executed in yellow color and placed on a solid blue horizontally oriented rectangular. The iconic blue script logotype was returned to the UCLA visual identity in 1996. The inscription got cleaned and refined, with the elongated tail of the “A” getting wider, and going more down. The yellow outline of the characters got narrower, but now the letters were surrounded by solid black shadow, which added volume to the logo. The redesign of 2017 has introduced a simplified version of the UCLA script logotype, with the flat blue lettering set on a transparent background without any yellow details. The contours of the letters look very neat and clean, and the tail of the last letter is now regularly short.

Primary Logo Details

The primary institutional logo is very simple. It features the capitalized letters “UCLA” in blue. Each of the glyphs is given in the same type and size as the rest of the line. This logotype exists in three versions: the letters can stand alone, be boxed, or be accompanied by yellow dots. When the letters stand alone, they are given in blue, while the background is white. Alternatively, the white lettering can be placed in a blue or black box. Additionally, the logotype may be adorned with the so-called molecule design. It suggests placing two yellow dots before and after the lettering.

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The playful and friendly UCLA script logo was first introduced at the beginning of the 1920s and hasn’t changed much by today. It is a title-case inscription in bold cursive with elongated and curved tails of the bars in “U” and “C”. The logotype can be seen in blue on white or written in blue and yellow. Sometimes, for a stronger contrast, the lettering is shadowed with thick black lines.

The Historical Seal

The historical seal of UCLA features a circular shape and has an open book with the letter “A” in the upper left corner, as the central element. The book is enclosed in a rounded frame, made up of ribbons with the name of the university written on them. Another ribbon is placed at the bottom of the book’s pages, and has the UCLA motto, “Let There Be Light” written on it in the uppercase of a simple sans-serif font. Above the book, there is a sharp five-pointed star, with many thin lines coming out of it diagonally.

Current Symbol

The current athletic emblem features a UCLA script in blue against the white background. The script can be given with a white outline on the blue or gold background.

Font and Colors

The school uses the Karbon font for its printed materials. The UCLA logo is given in another typeface, though. It is a clean and modern sans serif type with the distinctive “A” featuring a sharp vertex. Both the primary and secondary logos are given in custom typefaces. The University of California’s signature colors is blue and gold. The bright and vivid shade of the UCLA gold (Hex: #FFE800) symbolizes the legendary California poppy and sunsets. The dark azure shade of blue (Hex: #3284BF) represents the ocean and the wildflowers typical for the state. The hues have not stayed the same throughout the school’s history.

UCLA Bruins Baseball: A Legacy of Excellence

The UCLA Bruins baseball team has a storied history, marked by appearances in the College World Series (CWS) and a national championship.

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Early Success and CWS Appearances

Chris Chambliss led the Bruins to the 1969 CWS, UCLA's first. The team defeated Santa Clara at the NCAA Regional and finished in 7th place, after losing to Tulsa, 6-5 in 10 innings, and to Arizona State, 2-1 in 12 innings. Chambliss, who went on to play for Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, and Atlanta Braves between 1971 and 1986, had a team-high .340 batting average and 15 home runs.

The 1997 team won the Pac-10 title with a 43-18 record (21-9 Pac-10) and reached in the CWS. The team was led by head coach Gary Adams and included future Major League Baseball players Troy Glaus, Jim Parque, and Eric Byrnes. Jon Heinrichs, Tom Jacquez, Eric Valent, and Peter Zamora also played on the team.

2010 Season: National Runner-Up

The Bruins finished the 2010 season with a 43-13 record and were selected to host the Los Angeles Regional of the 2010 NCAA tournament at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The team won the regional by defeating its other three teams, UC Irvine (39-17), Kent State (39-23), and defending national champions LSU (40-20). The Bruins lost both games to South Carolina in the CWS Championship Series to finish as national runners-up. The team was ranked No. 1 in an April Baseball America poll. Cody Regis, Beau Amaral, and Trevor Bauer were named to the All-College World Series Team.

2013: National Champions

With a 42-14 record, the Bruins hosted the Los Angeles Regional of the NCAA tournament at Jackie Robinson Stadium and defeated Creighton and New Mexico to advance to the Super Regional. The Bruins then defeated TCU to advance to the College World Series. Following a 39-17 regular season record and third-place finish in the Pac-12, UCLA was selected to host a regional in the 2013 NCAA tournament. In it, UCLA defeated Cal Poly, San Diego, and San Diego State to advance to the Super Regional.

UCLA advanced to the 2013 College World Series and faced Mississippi State in a best-of-three final, having defeating the number one national seed North Carolina, 4-1, in the final game of the preliminary round. The Bruins won the first game, 3-1. They won the second game, 8-0, to win the program's first national championship. The team's pitching staff, including starters Adam Plutko, Nick Vander Tuig, and Grant Watson, and relievers James Kaprielian, Zack Weiss, and David Berg, gave up only four runs in five games at the World Series.

Jackie Robinson Stadium and Legacy

The Bruins play their home games at Jackie Robinson Stadium. In 2014, UCLA announced that all recreation and athletics facilities would forever be part of the newly named “Jackie Robinson Athletics and Recreation Complex.” In conjunction with the naming of the recreation and athletics facilities in honor of Robinson, UCLA Athletics also retired the number 42 across all sports.

Celebrating Jackie Robinson

For the second consecutive season, UCLA celebrated Jackie Robinson Day by wearing commemorative uniforms that pay homage to the Bruin icon. The UCLA adidas baseball retro uniforms feature classic Bruins lettering across the chest along with a commemorative “42" embroidered into the center of a baseball diamond on the arm sleeve. Further honoring Robinson’s legacy and time as a Bruin, the baseball cap features a retro “B” Bruin logo stitched onto applique wool materials that aim to replicate the uniforms and caps that players wore during the 1940s.

Seventy-seven years ago, Jackie Robinson claimed a place at UCLA. From 1939 to 1941, he starred in four sports. In football, Robinson played both offense and defense, returned punts, caught and threw passes, kicked extra points and in the process, earned honorable mention All-American accolades. In basketball, he twice led the Pacific Coast Conference in scoring. In track, he won the NCAA championship in the broad jump. Six years later, Jackie Robinson claimed a place in history.

Wearing number 42 for the Brooklyn Dodgers, on April 15, 1947, Robinson shattered the color barrier in Major League Baseball forever. Despite enduring racial abuse, jeers of fans and fellow players, death threats and profound harassment, he endured it all with grace and dignity - not to mention exceptional play - earning Rookie of the Year honors and a National League Most Valuable Player award in addition to helping the Dodgers win the 1955 World Series.

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