SWANS: The Swan flies alone from 2027 as fans vote to take the name off the badge

The Swan will fly alone on the Swansea City shirt from the 2027-28 season.

Swansea City supporters have voted to take the “Swansea City AFC” lettering off the club’s primary badge, the club says, with the lettered version becoming the secondary crest.

On the shirt that means the end of the circular patch. The club says the home kit will carry the Swan without text, as this season’s away and third kits already do, along with the one-off pre-season shirt worn in Austria.

Parts of it arrive sooner. The club says the text-free badge will be used more prominently on its website and app during 2026-27, with the shirt change waiting until the season after.

On the result, the club says 66 per cent voted positively for the change, against 34 per cent who voted against.

That 66 per cent covers two different answers. In the club’s own wording it counts supporters who voted for the change “and/or” said they would be happy to go forward with either badge.

The small print published when voting opened said anyone choosing “happy with either” would have their vote registered as a positive vote for making the change.

The club has not published how the 66 per cent divides between the two.

The question arose from the home kit. Chief executive Tom Gorringe told fans in August that under the rules the home shirt must carry the primary badge, and that the lettering on the current crest is too small to print, so the whole thing goes on as a circular patch.

Gorringe said the club’s preference was to amend the primary badge to show only the Swan, keeping the text on the secondary, which he said would let the Swan appear larger and allow a more premium finish on the kits.

The consultation ran longer than the kit row that made it public. Club officials met the Supporters’ Trust on 5 February to seek approval to begin internal discussions, and nine of the ten Trust representatives present backed it.

The Matchday Experience Working Group was consulted in May and the Disabled Supporters’ Association at its July AGM, where the club says most present were supportive though some were not.

Surveys sent to Trust and DSA members in July found supporters generally positive but worried about losing the lettered version. The club says that badge stays in use as the secondary crest, where it best represents the club’s heritage.

A club cannot simply swap its crest. Gorringe said the consultation was run in line with best practice set by the Independent Football Regulator and the Football Association’s Heritage Rules, which govern changes to badges and colours, with the results due to go to the regulator for review of the process. Friday’s announcement does not mention the regulator.

The badge itself is not new. It changed repeatedly between 2021 and 2023 through anniversary versions and a recolour before the club settled back on the familiar 1998 Swan, and the club says this is not a new identity, with the Swan unchanged.