What's in a Badge?

'What's in a Badge' research for FourFourTwo Magazine.

The Duplicating Design from Down-under

Founded in 1905 as AFK Vršovice, the Prague-based Czech club have changed their name a total of fifteen times – most recently in 2005 when they became ‘Bohemians 1905’. Between 1965 and 2005, they played under variations of the club name ‘Bohemians Praha’.

Following years of mismanagement, Bohemians Praha were relegated to the Czech 3^rd division and were only saved from extinction when fans paid off a portion of the clubs debt. During such turmoil, FC Střížkov Praha 9 of the Czech 3^rd division bought the white and green logo – of which they continue to display – and changed their name to ‘FK Bohemians Prague’. So now two extremely close variations of the same badge are used within Czech football.

During the 1920’s, the Australian Football Association were eager to attract a great European side to come over for a tour of their country – a lengthy sea journey that significantly lacked desirability. With invitations rejected left right and centre across Europe, they eventually settled for AFK Vršovice, and so a 4-month tour of Australia began in 1927. As a measure of their gratitude, the Australians presented the Czechoslovakian side with two live Kangaroo’s.

The two kangaroo’s were donated to Prague Zoo after a safe trip, supposedly under the watchful eye of AFK squad-member Havlín. Their nickname, the ‘Klokani’, means ‘Kangaroo’ in Czech, and their mascot is also a kangaroo.

Below: The fake ‘Bohemians Praha’ badge.