Super Bowl 59 logo: What it looks like, who designed it, what you need to know

The Super Bowl logo has become more of a talking point among NFL fans over the last few seasons. Part of the reason for that is a conspiracy theory that the colors of the Super Bowl logo determine which teams will have a chance to compete for the NFL title.

The other part of the equation? The NFL has spiced up its logos more since the 2010s. The league used a standard, cookie cutter-type logo during that span but has since added a pop of color and an original design to the yearly logo.

The Super Bowl 59 logo follows the same pattern, but it also marks the first time the NFL has collaborated with an artist local to the championship city to craft the Big Game's logo.

Here's what to know about the Super Bowl 59 logo and its creator, Tahj Williams.

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Super Bowl 59 logo

Below is a look at the logo for Super Bowl 59:

Who designed the Super Bowl 59 logo?

The Super Bowl 59 logo was designed by Tahj Williams, a 26-year-old local artist who works by day as a Microsoft cybersecurity analyst, per NOLA.com. Williams is also known as "Queen Tahj" given her role as a queen in her Black Masking Indian tribe in New Orleans.

Williams is the first Black woman to handcraft both the Super Bowl logo and theme art, per Essence. She is also the first local artist to collaborate on a Super Bowl logo with the NFL.

"This partnership is a dream come true and an opportunity to share the beauty of Black Masking culture with the world," Williams told Essence.

Williams has been involved with Black Masking – a practice born "as a way for African Americans to honor Native Americans who provided refuge during slavery and to celebrate community resilience," as Essence described – since her youth.

Williams' uncle, Lawrence Adams, mentored her into the culture of the Mardi Gras Indians in her later years of high school, according to NOLA.com. From there, she began creating patches and suits and eventually joined the Golden Eagle tribe, later becoming a queen.

Williams used inspiration from the Black Masking tradition in crafting the logo. She built the initial design entirely out of beads, a nod to the materials used to craft by Mardi Gras Indians to craft suits, as the NFL showed in a video announcing the logo.

"My approach to creating the Super Bowl logo is actually the same approach that I take with making my suits," Williams explained in an interview with the NFL. "What story that I want to tell and how I want people to feel when they react and they see this for the first time."

Williams was pleased she got a chance to blend two of the things she loved – Black Masking and football – while creating the logo. She played football in her youth and the only girl and captain on her middle school team.

"Football has played a tremendous role in my life by teaching me to focus on my dreams without worrying about what society thinks is for girls or boys," Williams told Essence. "It’s the same spirit of determination that shapes my work today."

NFL Super Bowl logo history

The first Super Bowl did not have a logo, but each championship game since then has featured one.

• Super Bowl 2 through Super Bowl 44 (1968-2010) featured a logo that often included a nod to the host city. This included Super Bowl 27, which was hosted at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and featured roses in the logo, and Super Bowl 31, which was hosted in New Orleans and referenced Mardi Gras in its logo.

• Super Bowls 45 through 49 (2011-15) used a silver Lombardi Trophy propped up by Roman numerals as its main logo. The background behind the trophy included outlines of the host stadium.

• Super Bowl 50 (2016) added gold to the standard logo used in Super Bowl 45-49 to commemorate the 50th edition of the championship game.

• Super Bowls 51 through 55 (2017-21) went solely with Roman numerals and a Lombardi Trophy, with a rotating color band over the words "Super Bowl" at the bottom.

• Super Bowls 56 through 59 (2022-2025) have continued the Roman numerals and Lombardi Trophy approach but have added color to the Roman numerals and nods to the host city, such as palm trees for Los Angeles and Mardi Gras designs for New Orleans. Often, two colors have been prominently featured in these logo, which has led to a conspiracy theory about the Super Bowl logo's colors predicting the championship game participants.

The NFL hasn't yet announced its logo for Super Bowl 60. It remains to be seen whether the league will continue with its recent design concepts or if it will create another specialty logo as it did for Super Bowl 50.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Super Bowl 59 logo: What it looks like, who designed it and more