The first official crest of AS Saint-Étienne, introduced in 1940, consisted of three overlapping green circles containing the white initials ASSE. Simple and distinctive, the design focused entirely on the club's initials and reflected the minimalist graphic style of the period. It established the green colour that would become inseparable from the club's identity and earned Saint-Étienne the nickname Les Verts (The Greens).
In 1960, the club adopted its first shield-shaped crest. The new badge introduced the iconic green-and-white vertical stripes, inspired by the striped awnings of the Casino stores founded by club benefactor Geoffroy Guichard. A white horizontal band displaying A.S.S.E crossed the centre of the shield, creating a design that became the foundation for many future Saint-Étienne crests.
A bold redesign followed in 1968, replacing the striped shield with a circular badge featuring a black panther leaping towards a football. The panther symbolised power, elegance and determination, while the club initials remained prominent within the green-and-white background. Although this crest departed significantly from previous designs, the panther quickly became one of the most recognisable symbols in the club's visual history.
In 1978, Saint-Étienne returned to a more traditional look. The circular badge was replaced by a shield once again featuring the familiar green-and-white stripes, with ASSE displayed prominently across the centre in gold. The redesign restored the club's historic visual identity while incorporating cleaner lines and a more balanced composition.
Another refinement arrived in 1980. The shield retained its striped design but introduced the wording "A.S. Saint-Étienne" across the top for the first time. A gold border was added around the badge, referencing the club's prestige and successful history while giving the crest a more elegant appearance.
In 1988, the panther briefly returned. The shield combined the animal with the club's green-and-white colours and included both A.S.S.E and Saint-Étienne on the badge. While intended to unite two important elements of the club's identity, this version proved relatively short-lived and was never embraced as strongly as either the earlier striped shield or the original panther emblem.
A major redesign in 1993 produced one of the club's most enduring crests. The circular badge featured the traditional green-and-white stripes, the inscriptions Saint-Étienne, A.S.S.E and Loire, and, from 1993, a blue-white-red championship star above the crest representing the club's ten French league titles. Minor graphical refinements, including a subtle three-dimensional effect, were introduced during its long lifespan, but the overall identity remained unchanged for nearly three decades.
In 2022, following a supporter consultation and public vote involving almost 16,000 fans, AS Saint-Étienne introduced its current crest. The new shield retains the traditional green-and-white stripes while incorporating several elements from the coat of arms of the city of Saint-Étienne, including the crown, crosses and palm branches. The founding year 1933 appears on the badge for the first time, while the championship star remains above the crest.
AS Saint-Étienne Club History
Founded on 26 June 1933, Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne was established as the professional football section of Association Sportive Stéphanoise, a sports club created in 1919 by employees of the Casino grocery company. The club adopted its famous green colours from Casino's branding, giving rise to the nickname Les Verts (The Greens). After turning professional, Saint-Étienne steadily climbed the French football pyramid before winning promotion to the top flight in 1938, laying the foundations for one of the most successful clubs in French football history.
AS Saint-Étienne became the dominant force in French football during the 1960s and 1970s, particularly under legendary manager Albert Batteux and later Robert Herbin. The club won its first French championship in 1957, beginning an era of unprecedented success that eventually produced a record ten Ligue 1 titles, six Coupe de France trophies, and numerous domestic honours. During this golden period, Saint-Étienne became the first truly national football powerhouse in France, with players such as Robert Herbin, Georges Bereta, Hervé Revelli, Dominique Rocheteau, Jean-Michel Larqué and Osvaldo Piazza becoming club legends.
The defining moment in the club's history came during the 1975–76 European Cup, when Saint-Étienne reached the final after eliminating Rangers, Dynamo Kyiv, PSV Eindhoven and Borussia Mönchengladbach. Although Bayern Munich won the final 1–0 at Hampden Park, Saint-Étienne's courageous performance, remembered for the famous "poteaux carrés" ("square goalposts"), captured the imagination of the French public. The team's return to France was celebrated by hundreds of thousands of supporters on the Champs-Élysées, cementing ASSE's place as one of the country's most iconic sporting institutions.
Following the end of its golden era, Saint-Étienne experienced periods of decline, financial difficulties and changing fortunes. Despite winning the 1981 Ligue 1 title, the club was affected by a financial scandal in the early 1980s and spent much of the following decades alternating between success and disappointment. Nevertheless, ASSE remained one of France's best-supported clubs, winning the 2013 Coupe de la Ligue and regularly returning to European competition while continuing to produce talented players through its academy.
In recent years, Saint-Étienne has faced the challenge of rebuilding after relegation from Ligue 1 in 2022. Under new ownership and with renewed investment, the club secured promotion back to the French top flight in 2024, reaffirming its ambition to restore its place among the country's elite.
AS Saint-Étienne's greatest rivalry is with Olympique Lyonnais in the Derby Rhône-Alpes, also known as the Derby du Rhône. Dating back to 1951, it is one of the fiercest rivalries in French football, fuelled by the close proximity of Saint-Étienne and Lyon, historic industrial competition between the two cities, and decades of battles for regional supremacy.
