Look: Logo Celebrates Washington Nationals’ Franchise Anniversary

The Washington Nationals are preparing to celebrate their 20th season as a franchise in the D.C. area.

Sep 11, 2020; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; A Washington Nationals logo is seen in front of cutouts of fans in the seats during the third inning of the game between the Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves at Nationals Park. / Scott Taetsch-Imagn Images

Time flies. The Washington Nationals are about to turn 20.

Next season will be the 20th anniversary of the franchise and its move to Washington D.C. from Montreal and the franchise has reportedly created a logo to commemorate the occasion.

Sportslogos.net’s Chris Creamer reported a rendering of the logo on Monday. He noted that the log was first shown briefly on the Nationals Park scoreboard at the end of the season.

The Nationals have not formally announced the logo, but Creamer was able to go more in-depth on what has gone into the reported graphic.

The description of the graphic indicates that the designers are incorporating the team’s logo, the stadium and landmarks around the D.C. area.

The Washington Nationals will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their first season in D.C. with a commemorative logo. #NATITUDE #Nats #MLB

My story here: https://t.co/dXmuq0NqfV pic.twitter.com/hynOlsVCWF

— SportsLogos.Net (@sportslogosnet) November 18, 2024

The logo shows a blue roundel trimmed in red (just like the Washington Nationals logo) with the team name around the top half in white, and the years 2005 * 2025 ’round the bottom. Inside this circle, on white, we see the Washington D.C. skyline in navy blue, with the Washington Monument and U.S. Capitol Dome visible, as well as the team’s home stadium – Nationals Park, in the foreground. Hovering over the skyline is a large number 20 in red with blue trim, matching the same style used for player numbers on the Nationals uniforms.

MLB has an unsettled history in D.C. Previously, the Washington Senators of 1891-1899 played in the National League. In 1901 an American League franchise was founded and, for a time, was called the Nationals, before it moved to Minnesota and became the Twins after the 1960 season.

MLB awarded the city an expansion franchise in 1961, also called the Senators, but it moved after a decade and became the Texas Rangers.

These Nationals were formerly the Montreal Expos, which was an expansion franchise in 1969 and played there until 2004, when it moved to D.C.

The franchise has had its moments since it moved from Montreal, most notably winning the 2019 World Series title. But it make the postseason for the first time in 2012, winning its first NL East title that season.

After that, Washington was either first or second in the division each of the next seven seasons, with four additional playoff appearances and the world title.

After that championship, however, the team fell into a rebuild, one that included trading young superstar Juan Soto for a bushel of prospects that are beginning to take rook in the nation’s capital.

The Nationals have won 71 games each of the last two seasons, but the franchise hasn’t been in a more optimistic position since that World Series crown.