Where does the club badge come from?
Only in the last few decades has one badge – the hand holding a sword on a red background – become intrinsically linked with Charlton Athletic. A logo first appeared in connection with the SE7 side back in the 1940s and 1950s, with a quartered shield featuring a robin sometimes used. In 1964, the club decided on a new badge and chose the borough of Greenwich coat of arms, but a reorganisation of London boroughs scuppered that plan just a year later. But with Greenwich and Woolwich becoming just one borough in 1965 came the first use of the hand and sword motif, although the design was far more detailed in its early form. Different versions of the badge were used throughout the 1970s and the first usage of the current design is thought to have occurred in late 1970s.
