The Kansas City Royals’ logo was created in 1968 by Hallmark artist Shannon Manning. The Royals were just moving to town and had approached Hallmark, which is headquartered in Kansas City, to put a call out to its artists for logo concepts. Manning’s now-iconic logo, including the KC ligature the Royals wear on their caps, was selected from roughly 20 submissions. (Manning passed away in 2022, but I interviewed him in 2015 about his most famous creation.)
The High-A Quad Cities River Bandits, who play in the Midwest League, became an affiliate of the Royals in 2021. At the time, the team acknowledged the new parent club relationship by switching the colors of their popular raccoon-based logo from red to blue.
Four years later, the team has made another connection with its parent club with its logos, introducing a cap logo with a QC ligature that evokes the KC logo created by Manning almost half a century ago. As with the team’s other logos, this one incorporates the Centennial Bridge in Davenport, Iowa, which can be seen beyond the team’s outfield wall.
The River Bandits open their season Friday, April 4, on the road against the Peoria Chiefs.
