he Duke Blue Devils are honoring their city with a new secondary logo.
Duke worked with WME Sports to design a secondary logo and revealed the results on Monday. The iconic Blue Devil, who is famously known for wearing headbands with different words on them, is wearing one that says “Bull City” in the new logo.
It is a reference to Durham, North Carolina’s, nickname of “Bull City.”
Duke’s campus is located in Durham, North Carolina, and recognizes as much with this design.
The plan is for the new logo to be featured on campus and at the football team’s Wallace Wade Stadium. What’s more, it will be included in various merchandising options and marketing campaigns as Duke looks ahead to the future.
Duke University Vice President and Director of Athletics Nina King released a statement on the new logo:
We are thrilled to launch our new mark which pays homage to our hometown nickname, Bull City. As Duke University and Duke Athletics continue to collaborate with the city of Durham, we thought no better time than now, right before kickoff and our annual Durham Day celebration, to showcase on local, regional and national levels the pride Duke has in being a part of Bull City. This mark, which will strategically be used to compliment the Iron D, features the iconic Blue Devil including its signature headband with the Bull City moniker, as well as the ‘Bull Hands’ which have symbolized and celebrated significant moments on the field of play.
Duke is best known as a men’s basketball powerhouse, but the football program has taken notable strides of late. After playing in a grand total of two bowl games from 1961 to 2011, it has participated in eight in the last 12 seasons.
The Blue Devils went 9-4 and defeated UCF in the Military Bowl during the 2022 campaign and followed it up with an 8-5 effort and win over Troy in the Birmingham Bowl last season.
The new logo also comes at the start of a new era for the Duke football program, which hired Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz as its new head coach heading into the 2024 campaign.
Diaz is replacing Mike Elko, who left to become the new coach at Texas A&M.
As for the basketball programs, the men’s team that has won five national championships is coming off an Elite Eight appearance, while the women’s team that has been to four Final Fours is coming off a Sweet 16 appearance.
