New Wilton athletic logo incorporates Roman spearhead
WILTON — Just a few weeks after rolling out a new logo at a Board of Education meeting, the district will amend its athletic logo with a Roman spearhead to replace Native American imagery in former logo adaptations.
In late August, district parent and graphic designer David Cote, of Purple Frog Graphics, reworked the original logo into a classic ‘W’ for the Wilton School District. His goal, along with the district’s, was to bring forth some uniformity to the various interpretations of the existing logo.
At the meeting, Superintendent Kevin Smith unveiled the new logo mockups to the board, which was met with positive reviews.
The logo was to be used for both the academic and athletic departments across the district.
Yet, just a few days later on Sept. 1, Cote contacted Smith to make another change.
Cote anticipated that the district wanted a “clean break” from any spear-like imagery on its logo, even sans-feathers, and designed it accordingly.
When Cote said the district’s athletic director, Chris McDougal, had contacted him about wanting an official logo to use for the athletic staff store, Cote asked Smith about incorporating Roman or Greek spearhead imagery into the athletics version.
“I said I could search for some Greek and Roman spear imagery,” Cote said Friday.
Smith told him he was open to the idea for an athletic variation of the logo.
Cote got to work on researching the noticeable differences between Native American arrowheads, which he said were typically “carved and shaped from stone,” while Greek and Roman spearheads were “formed and cast from metal, usually wrought iron.”
“It was important to me to model after a traditional Roman spearhead,” Cote said, adding it was the least likely design to be confused with Native American imagery. “Which is what I feel I achieved.”
Consistent with the Roman warrior mascot that the district employs during sporting events, Cote was careful to craft the graphic image of the spear in its likeness.
After a “a couple of days and few long nights,” Cote finished the new mockups and sent them to Smith. The superintendent gave Cote the approval to share it districtwide.
Cote said members of the football boosters were excited at the prospect of the new logo. So much so, that McDougal provided Cote and his graphic design company a number of the high school team’s football helmets to test out the new design on a decal to be used on game day.
All signs point to the new design being used as the official athletic logo moving forward, Cote said after speaking with McDougal.
Cote said the Wilton Warriors will be sporting the new logo as they take the field against North Haven on Sept. 24.
As a graphic designer, but also a “sports dad,” Cote is enthralled.
He said it’s going to be just as cool to see the logo on the players’ helmets as it is to see the banners he worked on around Veterans Memorial Stadium.
“As a designer, to look at that stadium and see what you created, with everything taken to the next level with the new ‘W,’ that is something that is super cool,” Cote said. “It is very satisfying.”