Club Crests
It is only as recent as the 1950’s that St.Mirren started wearing a club crest on their strips.
This crest has always been a variation of the Paisley coat of Arms.
The first version of the crest was a simple crest, often displayed on a large white/cream square background.
Crests disappeared for a few seasons during the early seventies and when it reappeared in 1977-78 it was embroidered into the shirts.
The Paisley Coat of Arms
The earliest iteration of the club crest from the 1950s
The 'Shield' badge from 1981
1981 saw a slight change to the crest, in that it was incorporated into a black and white shield design. This was not too popular with ‘traditionalist’ who much preferred the original crest unaltered.
1984 saw a return to the favoured version of the badge and this remained until 1995-96 when it was modified into a circular shape, but better received than the previous ‘modification’.
The last iteration of the original creast from 1995-1996
The first version of thenew crest introduced in 1996-1997
1996 saw the most radical change of the badge design, after the Lord Lyon in Edinburgh who is responsible for Coats of Arms and Heraldic Crests, decreed that Saints could no longer use the castellation effect at the top.
This led to a new badge being commissioned and this remains the club crest to this day.
The 1996-97 version saw a return to the ‘shield effect’ with the ‘new’ crest incorporated into it.
There have been other badges/motifs that have played a part in the club over the years.
During the 1990’s there were a few seasons where another logo was displayed on the strips of a man designed from Paisley ‘tear-drop’ patterns.
Match programmes have also used several different pictures over the years.
In the 1970 especially, there were three different badges. One depicting a matchstick drawing of the ‘Saint’ from the TV series and two others with the Paisley crest and a footballer replacing the Abbott, which were produced following a competition for fans to design their own crest.
The TV series has also spawned several pin badge designs over the years.
The 'Teardrop Man' from the 1990s strips
'The Saint' Pin badge
Another variation of 'Teardrop Man' from the 1990s strips
Design from one of the programmes