West Bromwich Albion is proud to support the WWF’s #WorldWithoutNature social media campaign on World Wildlife Day for the second year running.
The Baggies are once again joining a number of the planet’s most famous corporations and sports teams in removing nature from their branding in an action which aims to highlight the catastrophic loss of biodiversity globally and the social and economic risks it poses.
The iconic throstle bird, which has been an image associated with West Bromwich Albion for more than a century, sitting on the hawthorn tree in the middle of the club’s crest, will be removed for 24 hours across our social media channels.
Former club secretary Tom Smith decided the throstle, a Black Country term for a song thrush, should be the club emblem back in 1884. At that time, the team would get changed in the Plough and Harrow pub which lay adjacent to Stoney Lane, Albion’s former home. The landlady kept a very chirpy throstle which the players would look at as they walked out to the pitch. If the bird made plenty of noise, the players would see that as an omen for success.
International brands including Carlsberg, Hootsuite, Gymshark, Duolingo, and Airwick, as well as fellow football clubs Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, Wigan Athletic, Cardiff City and others, will also withdraw symbols of nature from their logos to highlight the emptiness of a world without nature.
According to WWF’s Living Planet Report, average populations of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles have dropped by an alarming 68% since 1970.
You can find out more information regarding World Wildlife Day and the #WorldWithoutNature social media campaign here.