In football logos/crests, no element is as overused as the circle. Out of the 42 teams competing in the four divisions of the Scottish Professional Football League, 16 have round badges. Its understandable that circular badges can enclose symbols and names in very attractive and effective way, but clubs that can avoid them to stand out definitely should.
For most of its history, The Celtic Football Club has used a cross instead of the traditional round badge it uses currently. Way before even considering a redesign project for the club, I always considered that the change was a downgrade. The current crest is not ugly by any means, but it unnecessarily looks like the ones of many other clubs in the world.
Bringing back the classic Celtic cross was a no brainer. Since it's already part of the clubs' history and it has a more distinctive look, it allows me to make something that I could rarely do to any other club: make a radical redesign that could feel familiar at the same time. Starting with the distintive cross as an outer shape, other elements of the clubs' identity pretty much called themselves into the badge.
A modernized, simplified version of the four leaf clover shines in the ring, surrounded by a capital "C" made of two hoops, representing in a very minimalistic way the clubs' main symbol, name and uniforms. Meanwhile, a darker shade of green allows to give more character to the clover and to extend the hoops (partially) to the sides of the cross, adding distinctiveness to the overall look without taking spotlight from the most symbolic elements.
Finally, the cross is edged by the same golden tone of the Champions League commemorative star. This not only protects the badge in green backgrounds, but also integrates permanently in it a color that represents the clubs' most important success.
