Getafe FC

Ok, so this #GetTheBadgeIn sees us look across to the Spanish @LaLigaENand Getafe FC, @GetafeCFen: I fell down a Wikipedia rabbit hole while watching the @ManUtd v

@ChelseaFC game.

I Googled their striker Garnacho, which then led me to the first team he played for, a Spanish outfit called Getafe FC— which is a city/suburb on the outskirts of Madrid. Their crest has planes on it. Planes! And a flaming heart!

I instantly fell in love with it, so I started digging. The bulk of the crest is taken directly from the Getafe City coat of arms—with the city’s crown replaced by a football at the top of the badge, with an electric blue circle around it containing the club’s name. The badge is split in two.

The most instantly striking feature is the patterned bomber aircraft against the green background. Getafe is home to a large military air base - and the first one built to house the Spanish Air Force back in 1911. It’s therefore known as the cradle of Spanish aviation. Today it still operates, housing a squadron of Spanish-built CN235 transport aircraft. They look like a smaller version of the US C130-Hercules that the British flew until 2023.

The area still has a strong aviation heritage, as the European giant aircraft manufacturer Airbus has a huge manufacturing plant in Getafe, named Campus Futura, which designs and builds many of the electronic components for Airbus planes. But it doesn’t stop there; at their Getafe plant, they also build the upper launch sections of the European Space Agency’s Ariane 6 rocket and the same section for the Falcon 9, owned and operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, as well as the Japanese Space Agency’s H3 rocket.

That's cool. The other side of the crest is perhaps even more interesting, despite not being the half that initially caught my attention. The red and yellow colours of Spain form a traditional Latin/Christian cross, with a burning red heart at its centre. This symbolises the Catholic devotional practice (e.g. a prayer that some Catholics say) of the “Sacred Heart of Jesus.” The connection to the club is the large monument to this devotion in the middle of Getafe, known as Cerro de los Ángeles. It is a tall column featuring a statue of Christ at the top.

Opened in 1919 by the Spanish King and being deeply Catholic, the monument was blown up by Republican soldiers during the Spanish Civil War (Ipswich link: George Orwell fought on the Republican side - but not near Madrid, so don't blame him). After the Civil War, the Spanish dictator Franco had it rebuilt to the exact same dimensions—but on a larger scale—just to prove a point.

So, that’s the cross and the flaming heart explained. I love this crest. There’s a lot packed into it. Religion and Rockets. The old and the new. Much better than a periquito.