Montreal Impact Rebrands As CF Montreal

After weeks of teases, it’s official: The Montreal Impact has fully rebranded to CF Montreal.

The new club branding sees the Major League Soccer side adopt a new name, new motto, and new mentality, though it keeps a familiar stance on colour scheme and attachment to the city it calls home.

When the name change was originally announced in December, it raise the ire of some club ultras and even some Parti Quebecois politicians. Despite the pushbacks, Club President Kevin Gilmore insisted that more modern branded was needed to push the club forward.

That sentiment is instilled into the new club motto, ‘Droit Devant’ – which translates into ‘Always Forward’. The club states that on the pitch it represents the common objective between players, staff, and supporters, while off the pitch it advances the mentality of evolution, innovation, and avant-garde.

To keep on growing and progressing, we are making an important change. This transformation is inspired by the culture of our city, its people, as well as the history of our club and our sport in Montreal, to lead us into an even brighter future. It’s a great metamorphosis that will stimulate and guide our evolution.

CF Montreal President Kevin Gilmore

Club Owner Joey Saputo acknowledged that the transition may be difficult for some fans fond of the old Impact branding, stating that while it was hard to let go of the things you love, to make an impact the club needed to retire the Impact.

The club has completely reconfigured its logo, with CF Montreal marching onwards with a circular crest featuring a black, blue, and gray colour scheme with a snowflake design and two Quebec fleur-de-lys featured alongside the club name.

The club’s snowflake motif stems from the idea that no two Montrealers are like, but come together as a blizzard, storm, or force of nature. While the term has been used moreso in heated political discourse of late, it’ll be interesting to see what fans make of crest’s snowflake design based around the letter M.

Astute fans will also notice that the new blue – Sacre Bleu – comes in as a darker shade, complimenting the familiar Impact Black and Ice Gray shades well. The font used for the club was designed locally in the city, with the club’s main typeface being called Neue Montreal Bold.

In these local roots, the club is hoping to strike a chord with Montrealers and pay homage to the city’s deep football culture roots.

Football is more established than ever in Montreal and its history, which dates to the late 1800s, continues to evolve with this announcement. We wanted to connect our identity even more strongly to that of our city. We were inspired by Montreal and its supporters to create this local Montreal brand image, made by Montrealers, to state that we are here to stay.

CF Montreal Co-Creative Director Justin Kinsley

The Major League Soccer side isn’t the only Canadian football team to undergo a rebrand this year, with Canadian Premier League side York United having rebranded from its original moniker of York9 FC.

CF Montreal becomes the tenth MLS side to rebrand since the league’s inaugural season in 1996.