The Celtics’ famous logo has been an indelible part of the franchise’s history. Lucky the Leprechaun was featured at center court on the old Boston Garden floor, and he made his way to TD Garden when the Celtics began playing at that venue in the mid-1990s.
But how did the Celtics land on Lucky? Well, it turns out that the logo has strong ties to one of the most important figures in basketball history.
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Who is Lucky the Leprechaun? How Celtics’ logo was created
The Celtics’ logo was originally created by Red Auerbach’s brother, Zang, in the early 1950s. Zang was an artist and cartoonist who worked for multiple print publications and also designed the logo for the Washington Senators baseball team.
Red, of course, was one of the most successful NBA coaches and executives of all time. The Hall of Famer led the Celtics to nine championships as a head coach and contributed to seven other title runs as a member of the front office. Perhaps most importantly, Red is Lucky the Leprechaun’s biggest hero. (Seriously, he is.)
Here is a description of the modern Lucky from the team website:
History of Celtics’ logo
The Celtics have seen their logo change a few times since the franchise was founded in 1946.
1946-1950: The first logo was a simple white shamrock with “Celtics” written above it. 1950-1960: Zang’s original version of Lucky was mostly black and white, but he did have a green vest. He also wore an NBA crown. 1960-68: The only change here was the orange background. 1968-1974: This was the first time that Celtics fans saw a leaning Lucky. 1974-1996: A more modern Lucky got a black, green and white look. Instead of a basketball background, he had a green ring with “Boston Celtics” written in white. 1996-present: And here’s the current Lucky.
