FC Bayern Forum

smaw2010 wrote:Just want to ask, will a fifth star be added to the logo after we win the CL?

smaw2010 wrote:Just want to ask, will a fifth star be added to the logo after we win the CL?

MUTU wrote:My assumption would be that a fifth star would be awarded after 30 Bundesliga titles.

"What do the three stars on Bayern Munich logo represent?" wonders Indro Cahyono. "They've won four European Cups (1974, 1975, 1976, 2001), so why don't they have four stars?"

Unlike international football, where stars are awarded for World Cup wins, stars on club logos are a very arbitrary affair, and the rules as to what a team can use vary greatly from country to country. Bayern's gold stars actually have nothing to do with their European achievements, and are instead a reward granted to the club by the German Football Association (DFB) for domestic success. The DFB's standardised system was introduced to the Bundesliga in 2004, granting one star to teams with three or more league title, two stars to teams with five or more titles and three stars to teams with 10 or more titles.

Somewhat controversially, only titles from the Bundesliga, formed in 1963, were counted, meaning that only Bayern Munich (then with 18 titles, now with 20) earned all three stars. Borussia Mönchengladbach (five titles) are the only team with two stars, while Werder Bremen (four titles), Hamburger SV (three titles) and Dortmund (three titles) each have one, and a host of teams such as Nurnberg (nine titles, but only one in the Bundesliga) and Schalke 04 (seven titles, none in Bundesliga) are left with none.

In other countries the rules are very different, with Italian clubs granted one star for every 10 league wins, while one star for every MLS Cup win is now the standard reward in the United States. In England, Liverpool choose to wear five stars to represent their Champions League wins, but there is no standard system or rules as to what can and can't be worn. The official Uefa reward for five European Cup wins, meanwhile, is a special badge of honour for the club's shirts, as well as the right to keep the trophy itself.