Hearts badge named among 10 best in world football

The badge as seen from the outside of the main stand at Tynecastle. Picture: Ian Rutherford

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Author Leonard Jagerskiold Nilsson has brought out a new book celebrating the best crests from the beautiful game and included the famous design in a list published in GQ magazine.

Hearts joined the likes of English Premier League giants Liverpool and former European Cup winners Ajax in the top ten.

Though the badge was updated in the 90s it largely kept the same design that first appeared on strips in the 1977/78 season.

Nilsson wrote in GQ: “I have heard people say that the crest of Hearts could do with an update as well as Atlético Madrid’s, but, to me, this is close to perfection.

“The appearance of this badge is well known in Scottish football and the Hearts crest nurtures strong local connections. The name of the club and the crest itself derive from a pavement mosaic in central Edinburgh.

“One of the Scottish capital’s best-known sites, it features the image of a heart and bears witness to a grim historic location: the Old Tolbooth, the town’s jail and place of execution.

“The prison was torn down in 1817 but lives on through the mosaic and Heart of Midlothian FC.”

The full top 10: Blackburn Rovers, Sampdoria, Ajax, Liverpool, Torino, Lokomotiv Moscow, FC Koln, Hearts, Atletico Madrid, Brighton & Hove Albion