Exeter Chiefs ditch Indian imagery

Decision follows extensive pow wow

Exeter Chiefs is abandoning its Native American imagery.

Following years of pressure and the decision last year to 'retire' its Big Chief mascot, the club launching a new visual identity based around a pre-historic westcountry tribe.

It says the new logo "draws inspiration from the Celtic Iron Age Dumnonii Tribe, which encompassed a unified area covering Devon, Cornwall and parts of Somerset for many hundreds of years before the Roman occupation from 43 AD, as well as the later ‘Celtic Kingdom of Dumnonia’, which was established around AD 410 and continued for almost 500 years."

The new branding will start in July.

Our History, Our Future ... pic.twitter.com/TL6k45F6Wc

— Exeter Chiefs (@ExeterChiefs) January 27, 2022

The club's chief Tony Rowe says: “Exeter has and always will be the most important term in our overall identity. The term Chiefs, however, is equally entrenched in our make-up, going back to over a century ago when teams in this region would regularly call their first teams that of the Chiefs.

“As a rugby club we have been willing to listen, we have consulted far and wide, and now we are ready to invoke change. This is a new direction for our great club, but equally it’s an exciting vision that I’ve no doubt will propel us onwards and upwards over time.

“Our new imagery will bring to life the pride our supporters have to support their club, unifying us all under one brand that underlines all of our core traditions.”

The club says its new logo is made up of elements which represent the region’s Celtic history, as well as its links to the Iron Age Dumnonii Tribe, whose presence in the local area mirrors our own, ever-expanding supporter base. The helmet is based on the Celtic helmets known to be worn in and around 300 BC with a hammered design in the style of La Tène art that was popular in Britain in the last few centuries BC.