Hibernian Football Club were founded in 1875 by the Irish immigrant community centred around the Cowgate in Edinburgh. The original club badge was the Irish Harp (pictured left). Between 1875 and 1891, Hibernian were the football team of St. Patrick's Catholic Young Men's Society and to play for the team, you had to be a practising Catholic.

In 1891, the loss of their ground, Hibernian Park, coupled with the treachery of one of the many clubs they had helped to set up, Glasgow Celtic, brought the team to its knees. Hibernian decided that they would cease playing until they had found a new ground to play at and raised enough funds to relaunch the club.

In 1893, Hibernian opened a new stadium (again on Easter Road and the current home of the team) and were relaunched as a club for everyone, irrespective of religion, class or colour. The following century and more has seen the club fully integrated into Edinburgh and Scottish society.

I started watching Hibs in the seventies and so have an emotional attachment to the 'crown' badge (pictured left). Eddie Turnbull's great team of the early seventies played for this badge although it had not yet appeared on the strip. Pictured right is Turnbull himself sporting this badge on the club blazer in a team line-up.

At the start of the 1977 season, Hibs did launch a strip that deviated from the simple green and white of old but this was not the appearance of the club badge yet. No, this was the controversial 'Bukta' strip that caused a storm at the time (Hibs were simply ahead of the times by wearing a large advertisement across the centre of the strip - something that is commonplace nowadays).