San Jose Earthquakes Logo
The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California, United States, that competes as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996, (originally as the San Jose Clash), as one of the charter clubs of the league. The Earthquakes took part in the first game in MLS history, defeating D.C. United 1–0. The Earthquakes have won two MLS Cup titles, in 2001 and 2003, and two Supporters' Shields in 2005 and 2012. In 2002, the team played in its first CONCACAF Champions Cup (now called the CONCACAF Champions League), making it to the quarterfinals. The team holds a fierce rivalry with the LA Galaxy known as the California Clásico.
Since their inception, the Earthquakes have played in a color scheme featuring blue and black as dominant colors,[citation needed] usually with white highlights. The original San Jose Clash logo featured a stylized scorpion in black and red with a white 'clash' wordmark.
When they rebranded to the Earthquakes in 2000, the team badge featured an inverted triangular shield containing a soccer ball invoking the rising sun used in the logo for the City of San Jose,[citation needed] a stylized 'Earthquakes' wordmark, and a color palette of blue, black, white and silver. The three points of the triangular shield represented the three largest communities of the Bay Area (San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland).
The team rebranded again on January 30, 2014 to a new crest and kit. While still featuring blue and black, as well as a new chevron design that invokes the geologic theme of the team's name, the new design also features the year 1974 in red; this is an explicit reference of lineage to the previous NASL incarnation of the Earthquakes.
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