The history and evolution of the Inter crest

Our 113 years of history began on a March evening, in the heart of Milan. The night that Inter got their colours, the night when the Nerazzurri became the brothers and sisters of the world. That evening, Giorgio Muggiani designed the first logo of Foot-Ball Club Internazionale Milano, a distinctive and recognizable symbol that has always accompanied us, also defining our colours.

The victories and defeats, the legends and characters that have left a permanent mark, go hand in hand with the history and evolution of our logo. Over the years it has undergone many changes: from drastic and radical changes for reasons of force majeure to periods in which tradition and traits designed by Muggiani returned to dominate. The black and blue have always been present. The gold has played a central role more or less forever. The shapes, the presence of the snake, the star.

From 1908 to today: here is the history of the Inter crest.

1908-1928

We know the scene: March 9, 1908, Ristorante Orologio, Piazza Duomo 22, Milan. 44 founding members, including Giorgio Muggiani, painter, designer, artist, futurist. It is he who gave the crest of Foot-Ball Club Internazionale Milano its features: the letters F C I M superimposed on a gold background embraced by two concentric Nerazzurri circles. An Art Nouveau work, inspired by the crests of English clubs. Very modern traits for the time, which immediately included all the distinctive elements of the Interista universe: Internationality, Milan, the gold of the stars, the blue of the sky and the black of the night. In 1910 and 1920 Inter won the first two national league titles in their history.  

1928-1929

The demands of the fascist regime forced Inter to make changes to their name and their crest. The name became Ambrosiana, and the crest underwent a substantial change: from the original, only the rounded shape remained. The new crest was characterised by a fascist beam on a blue background, accompanied by the Visconti shield and the red cross shield of Milan. This crest only remained for the 1928/29 season.  

1929-1932

A new revolution in 1929: In the new crest, still rounded, the Nerazzurri stripes dominate, surrounded by gold. On a black background in the centre, the word AMBROSIANA appears in gold writing. The letters A and S appear on the sides, anticipating the change of name to the Sports Association.  

1933-1945

In 1933, the logo underwent a further evolution: for the first time the shape was square. The Nerazzurri stripes filled the background, while a leather ball appeared in the centre, the classic one used on the playing fields in years gone by. Writing surrounded the edges: Associazione Sportiva Ambrosiana, joined by the word INTER. A reference to our origins, a distinctive sign that has never abandoned the hearts of the fans, who are used to talking about and cheering on Inter.  

1945-1960

When the war was over, the name of our club changed back to INTER, who in the meantime had risen to five Scudetti and one Coppa Italia. The logo also returned to its original connotations, with a variation on the use of colours: the letters F C I M were now gold, on a white background. This was the first crest to appear on the jerseys: it would be an exclusive for the1958/59 season, the year of Antonio Valentin Angelillo's 33 goal haul.

1960-1963

1960 was a year of change for the Nerazzurri logo: The colours were unchanged, but the form and content were revolutionised. The snake returned as the protagonist. The emblem by which the club was identified, although never used in documents or official uniforms, was a striped Nerazzurri oval, dominated by a gold Visconti snake in the centre. In the upper section, also in gold, the word INTER appeared on a black background and the letters F and C on a blue background gave visibility to our status as a Football Club. Two variations with respect to the main logo are also attributed to this three-year period, which ended with the first Scudetto of the Herrera era, during which the presence of the snake always stood out.

1963-1979

From 1963 until the end of the 1970s Muggiani’s crest returned. The original design underwent a slight restyling in the interweaving of the letters F C I M, as well as some slight variations in the colour ratio. There was a greater presence of gold, embracing the two Nerazzurri concentric circles from the outside as well as filling in the empty spaces. White was used only for the letters.

These were the years of the Great Inter: the Nerazzurri rose to the top of Europe and the world. Inter's logo and colours became universal symbols, known all over the world.  

1979-1988

Appearing in several variations in previous years, in 1979/80 the snake returned in a dominant way. This was a real evolution. The new logo was a shield with a white background, crossed by two diagonal Nerazzurri stripes. A completely different snake from the classic Visconti one appeared in the centre, with very modern traits. Next to the snake was a star, symbolising the conquest of 10 national titles. From this season on, the crest appeared permanently on the jerseys (sometimes on the sleeve).  

1988-1989

The crest underwent a change of style in 1988/89, a season that became historic and legendary for the conquest of the "Scudetto dei record". The Nerazzurri logo with the snake remained: its expression, however, was more aggressive and the logo was combined with INTER inscribed above the shield in black.

1989-1999

After the snake, we returned again to the original version of the logo painted by Muggiani. For ten years, the classic symbol with F C I M remained, written in white on a dominating gold background. Accompanying the logo was the star, now larger in size. This crest adorned the shirts during three unforgettable UEFA Cup victories, making the jerseys from those years real collector’s items.

1999-2007

The entry into the twenty-first century led to a stylistic novelty: the classic crest took on more modern traits, but the great novelty was blue, which dominated the logo. The word INTER and the year of the club’s foundation appeared in white. Gold again took over the acronym FCIM and defined the perimeter of the crest, within which the star also found a space.

2007-2014

With the club's centenary in mind, a new restyling in 2007 brought the crest closer to its original features with a greater balance in the thickness of the black, blue, and gold concentric circles. The presence of the star was now on the outside of the crest and the acronym FCIM returned to white.

In the 2007/08 season, to celebrate the centenary of the foundation of the Club, the crest saw the addition of an external gold circle with the dates (1908-2008) of the centenary and the inscription 100 ANNI INTER (100 YEARS OF INTER)...

A further variant was proposed in the 2009/10 season, the season of the Treble, when the crest was wrapped in a tricolour circle to celebrate the centenary of the conquest of the first Scudetto (1909/10). It will go down in history for being the logo imprinted on the shirts with which Mourinho's Inter achieved a feat still unique in Italian football history.

2014-2021

In 2014 Inter changed its look once again with the latest restyling of the original logo. A new version in which mainly the details were changed; the lines of the monogram changed, the number of circles surrounding it was reduced and the dimensions were rebalanced for better diffusion and recognition. The star was restored to its original meaning and is used only on official kits to identify league titles won.