'Part of My DNA!' Son of Buffalo Bills Logo Designer Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary

The Buffalo Bills' iconic logo celebrated its golden anniversary last week.

Jun 14, 2022; Orchard Park, New York, USA; General view of a Buffalo Bills logo in the media room / Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

The Buffalo Bills' logo ranks among one of the most iconic in the NFL today, and in turn, one of the most enduring.

Last Friday, April 5, officially marked the 50th anniversary of the Bills' iconic logo depicting a charging blue bison with a red streak. The only teams who have gone longer without changing their primary logo at all are the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs, a testament to the staying power of the Bills logo.

The man who came up with the concept of the logo was the late Bob Lustig, a longtime business partner of former Bills owner Ralph Wilson and the team's general manager at the time. Half a century later, his son Tom reflects on how the logo came to be.

Jan 15, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; The Buffalo Bills logo at midfield. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

"Dad said the old logo looked like a buffalo standing in a field taking a crap," Tom told the Buffalo News. "He said we needed something new, something moving forward and charging ahead.”

To make Lustig's vision a reality, though, the Bills had to look for outside help. They contacted Stevens Wright, a commercial illustrator in the aerospace industry, to design the logo, and he hit it out of the park. Wright would later design logos for several other NFL teams that never saw the light of day, but he certainly left his impact on the league through the Bills.

However, it was Lustig's idea to make the red streak more noticeable, giving us the design we know and love today.

"We are attempting to portray the Buffalo in a forward accelerated motion concept," Lustig wrote. "and some of the people here thought if the red stripe started out in the eye or horn area in a smaller size and extended toward the rear in a wider design, it would give more of an impression of acceleration or propulsion."

Before the current logo was unveiled in 1974, Buffalo used a logo of a red bison standing in place. That logo still has its devout fans, and the Bills even still use it on throwbacks from time to time, but it's certainly not as kinetic as its successor.

Going even further back, the Bills wore a silver helmet with no logo for their first two seasons. Their original jerseys were very reminiscent of the Detroit Lions' at the time, as Wilson was a minority owner of that team before founding the Bills.

Lustig passed away in 2005 at the age of 81, and Wright passed away in 2013 at the same age. Together, the two men created a work of art that has endured half a century, and likely won't go away any time soon.

"That logo is a part of my DNA," Tom said.. "For me, it is always there, that connection.”