Montreal Canadiens Logo History: Every Crest and Its Colors

This page traces every logo the Montreal Canadiens have used, from the 1909 sweater lettering to the CH that has barely moved since 1917, with each era’s colors as one-click hex values.

The Canadiens are older than the NHL, founded in 1909 to give Montreal’s French-speaking population a team of its own.

The C with the H inside stands for Club de Hockey Canadien, so the belief that the H means Habitants is wrong.

Today it runs on red, blue and white: #AF1E2D #192168 #FFFFFF. For RGB, CMYK and Pantone, see the current Montreal Canadiens color codes.

Montreal Canadiens logo history timeline

1909-1910

Montreal Canadiens logo 1909-1910

Montreal Canadiens crest, 1909-1910. Via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Founding-season logo (club founded December 4, 1909): a simple blue letter 'C' for 'Canadiens'.

1910-1912 (approximate)

Montreal Canadiens logo 1910-1912

Montreal Canadiens crest, 1910-1912. Club trademark, shown to identify the logo of that period.

A large 'C' with a small 'A' inside, standing for 'Athlétique' (per the club's formal name 'Club Athlétique Canadien'), set inside a green maple leaf; sources disagree on whether the leaf appeared from 1910 or was briefly dropped in 1912.

Why it changed: Redesign for a more distinctive mark reflecting the club's formal name

1912-1913 (approximate)

Montreal Canadiens logo 1912-1913

Montreal Canadiens crest, 1912-1913. Via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (trademarked).

Maple leaf returned; lettering expanded to 'CAC' (Club, Athlétique, Canadiens) in blue.

Why it changed: Further emphasis of the full club name in the crest

1917-1922 (approximate)

Montreal Canadiens logo 1917-1922

Montreal Canadiens crest, 1917-1922. Club trademark, shown to identify the logo of that period.

Crest changed to a large 'C' with an 'H' (briefly rendered as 'CHC' in some seasons per some sources) reflecting the club's new name, 'Club de Hockey Canadien', adopted when the Canadian Hockey Club/George Kennedy ownership group reorganized the team; red 'C' with white 'H' outlined in blue.

Why it changed: Club renamed from Club Athlétique Canadien to Club de Hockey Canadien

1921-1952 (approximate)

Montreal Canadiens logo 1921-1952

Montreal Canadiens crest, 1921-1952. Club trademark, shown to identify the logo of that period.

The 'CH' monogram persisted through this span with the shape and outline thickness of the 'C' modified multiple times across roughly three decades; sources do not agree on precise sub-era boundaries.

Why it changed: Incremental design refinements, no single documented cause

1952-present

Montreal Canadiens logo 1952-present

Montreal Canadiens crest, 1952-present. Via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (trademarked).

The CH crest reached the form still in use today; only cited change since is a 1999-2000 shade adjustment of the red and blue (no shape change).

Why it changed: Settled into current proportions in 1952-53; 1999-2000 update was a minor color-shade refresh only

Montreal Canadiens logo colors by era

Era	Colors
1909-1910	Blue `#003473`
1910-1912	Blue `#437570`* Green `#057000`
1912-1913	Blue `#213970` Red `#B01533` White `#FFFFFF`
1917-1922	Red `#CA0629` White `#FFFFFF` Blue `#002E89`
1921-1952	Red `#CA0629` Blue `#002F89` White `#FFFFFF`
1952-present	Red `#AF1E2D` Blue `#192168` White `#FFFFFF`

Things worth knowing

The 'CH' does NOT stand for 'Habitants' (a very common misconception, including among many fans and even casual media); it stands for 'Club de Hockey', part of the team's 1917-18 legal name 'Club de Hockey Canadien'.
The crest went through at least four distinct lettering schemes before CH: a bare 'C' (1909), 'C' with small 'A' inside a maple leaf, and 'CAC' spelling out 'Club Athlétique Canadien'.
The 1917 rebrand to 'Club de Hockey Canadien' (and the CH crest) coincided with the team's reorganization under the Canadian Hockey Club ownership group (George Kennedy) and the folding of the old NHA into the new NHL.
The current crest shape has been essentially stable since 1952-53, with the only later change being a 1999-2000 adjustment to the exact red/blue shades, not the design.

Values marked * were measured from the logo artwork of that period. Brand color standards did not exist for most of these eras, so no official hex value was ever published for them. Treat them as an accurate reading of the artwork rather than as an official brand value. Unmarked values are the club’s own published colors.