The Pumas renew their iconic logo: the motif of the change and the explanation of the UAR

Cougars They have a new identity. The Argentine rugby team presented its new logo this Monday, which will no longer feature the acronym or the shield of the Argentine Union. The national team has also adopted the image of an immaculate feline – a puma – as its symbol, leaving behind the traditional jaguar that has appeared on their shirts since the 1960s.

The change aims to “separate the institution, in its role as such, from the identification of the teams”.

“From today the UAR has its new coat of arms that identifies it and the Los Pumas, as a brand in its own right, present a new symbol that comes from the history of the selected team”, reads on social media.

“Since its creation in 1899, the Argentine Rugby Federation has undergone various transformations, including changes to its original name and also to its insignia. Throughout history, the origin of these changes has been the need to evolve. It is for this reason, today we present a new identity,” the statement added.

It is worth mentioning that, until now, the logo of the union and the chosen one were one: a shield in which the abbreviation UAR was read under the image of the jaguar.

The changes will be reflected on the Los Pumas shirt, which will keep its logo on the left, next to the heart. The new image of the UAR – which features an exclusive typographic design, with the letters surrounded by an oval figure (allusive to the ball with which this sport is played) – will continue to appear on the t-shirts, even if not next to the cat, if not On the right side. Meanwhile, the “tube” of Nike, the brand that wears the team, will be positioned in the center of the chest.

“In recent times, the Argentine Rugby Union has grown in various aspects, in addition to the game, with new platforms, teams, development, communication, among others. For all this, in our image we produce a change of identity. We define a company logo used by all members of the Union,” he commented Gabriel Travaglinipresident of the national organization, during the presentation.

“The next step brought us back to our origins, where the crest that identifies us since the historic 1965 tour was used only by our senior national team, so much so that the Puma is only used by Los Pumas,” he added.

Whilst the change seeks to separate the team organization as part of a strategic plan which aims to grow club rugby, promoting the development and improvement of its players and contributing to a better performance of high performing national teams – already in the long run, to reduce the interference of the purely institutional in the sport-, the modification that most attracts attention is the disappearance of the jaguar spots, historical emblem of the selected team.

This step aimed to reconcile the image with the iconic nickname, born almost by accident on that historic tour of Southern Rhodesia and the Union of South Africa in 1965, in which the historic victory against the Juniors was achieved. springbok.

Legend has it that when the Argentine team landed in Rhodesia, a South African journalist confused the jaguar embroidered on the shield with a puma -or he chose to refer to the feline that way, because it was very difficult for him to pronounce that word in the Guarani language- and he called the street for the selected blue and white.

On 19 June at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, the newly christened “Pumas” achieved a historic 11-6 victory against the South African team in that tour, which ended up opening the doors of the international scene to Argentine rugby. The new nickname was forever linked to the albiceleste team, even if the symbol continued to be a jaguar. Until now.

The new Los Pumas image will also be used by THE puma seven AND The Pumites. While The jaguarsthe women’s team will keep the cat from which it took its name, albeit with a shape more similar to that of the new puma.