History and Heritage to be Enshrined in New Crest

The GAA has revealed a new brand identity, which will be officially launched at this year’s Congress in April. The new identity reflects the future direction of the association, which will be outlined in the forthcoming GAA Strategic Plan. In rolling out the new look, the GAA will be ensuring that all other marks, logos and symbols are made totally redundant. It is estimated that the total roll-out will take at least a year.

The new brand identity was created following one of the largest consultative processes ever carried out on behalf of the GAA. In all, over 8,000 people – representing a complete cross section of all elements of the Association, including a sizeable youth section, and the general public – were consulted and their views fed into the research.

The consultation was carried out over a 10 month period. The results also were used to inform the direction of the Strategic Plan. All of the work was carried out by independent consultants, The Brand Union, who are based in Dublin. The Brand Union’s clients include Ulster Bank, Vodafone and the National Lottery.

The end result of the process has been the creation of a new GAA logo which is set to replace the plethora of logos, identifying marks and other devices that have become associated with the GAA over the years. The new identity consists of an updated more modern version of both the GAA’s crest and name. The crest element, which reflects the history and heritage of the Association, will be reserved for members and administration from clubs through to Croke Park. The GAA name, uniquely rendered as a core component of the crest will be used for activities from Go Games and other youth activities through to the senior leagues and championships.

Speaking about the new look GAA President Nickey Brennan said that the Association had become concerned at the way in which the very essence of the GAA was very diluted particularly with ever more commercial activities and sponsorship. “There was little or no control over how the Association and our games were being branded and we were determined to regain that control.”

He said that the research and “brand audit” that had been commissioned were timely. “There was also a belief that the look of the Association had become dated and that it no longer reflected the dynamic organisation that is the GAA today. Given that we were undertaking work on a new Strategic Plan our intention was to create something that would better symbolise the GAA as it is today - a modern and vibrant association with a huge youth membership.”

He said that the research had strongly indicated that the simple expression “GAA” was a hugely powerful symbol of all that was representative of the Association and its games, but was relatively unused. He said that the research also indicated that GAA was seen very much like a brand such as ESB with absolutely no need to spell out what the letters stood for.

“Given that kind of dynamic, we were advised to make greater use of ‘GAA’ and that is exactly what we intend doing. We will be using it in conjunction with all of our activities, from Go Games and other youth activities through to our senior leagues and championships.”

“We are a modern, forward thinking association, with huge youth participation and following. But everyone involved in the GAA is also immensely proud of our rich culture and heritage. It’s important for us as an association to embrace the future, but always remain mindful of our past”

He concluded by noting the Association had captured this sense of history and culture in a more appropriate way with a modern version of the original Gaelic Athletic Association medal.


Nickey Brennan and Pauric Duffy display the new logo