Wrexham’s new kit criticised by Leyton Orient for similar appearance of logo
Phil Blanche, Press Association
Leyton Orient have criticised Wrexham and their celebrity owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac for putting a badge on their new kit that they say looks strikingly similar to their own.
Wrexham unveiled their new third strip on Wednesday in cream with a black collar and terracotta-orange detailing, and received the Hollywood seal of approval with pictures of Mac and Reynolds modelling it on the club website.
But it was the badge more than the colour that raised eyebrows as Wrexham deviated from their traditional crest of two red dragons facing inward, a golden football, the Prince of Wales feathers with a coronet and motto, and Welsh flag colours.
Instead the badge was replaced with two dragons facing each other over a football, and looking remarkably like the crest Orient introduced in 1976 to incorporate the club’s links with the City of London and the Thames.
The creatures on the Leyton Orient F.C. badge aren’t technically dragons, however, but wyverns (mythical bipedal creatures with a dragon’s head and wings and a serpent’s body) rather than standard dragons, though they are widely mistaken for them.
They were introduced in a 1976 badge redesign to represent two specific aspects of the club’s heritage
The wyvern is the defender of the Thames in mythology and with the sea, through the old Orient Shipping Company.
Orient criticised Wrexham’s badge on their social media by asking: “What you playing at @VancityReynolds @RMcElhenney?, alongside a video of former England manager Roy Hodgson using colourful language.
What you playing at, @VancityReynolds @RMcElhenney? 🤔#LOFC #OneOrient https://t.co/zwd0xuFToU pic.twitter.com/ZOAKKUFXXX
— Leyton Orient FC (@leytonorientfc) August 27, 2026
Upping the comedic factor in response to a fan page intervening in the spat, Leyton Orient shared a gif of Recky Gervais as David Brent from the Office, with the words: “Ooh you’re hard”
https://t.co/fAwPxF7wPk pic.twitter.com/x3pxr67ECc
— Leyton Orient FC (@leytonorientfc) August 27, 2026
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Wrexham has had the two dragons with the football as part of their creat since 1973. So Leyton definitely cribbed Wrexham.
Leyton Orient have a bloody cheek. Their two red dragons rampant logo has appeared on their club badge only since 1976, whereas Wrexham adopted theirs in 1973 from earlier Welsh tradition. Anyway, which country — let alone club — has used the red dragon, Y Ddraig Goch, as a symbol since Roman times. Hint: it is not England, founded in 927 AD, or Leyton Orient, established in 1881, but Cymru. Trivia: The Y Ddraig Goch (The Red Dragon) has been associated with Cymru for over 1,200 years but can be traced back earlier to the Roman invasion of our island… Read more »
Red wyvern, not dragons, are symbols of the Thames going back hundreds of years.
Both are a dragons. Only difference, the traditional dragon have four legs and separate wings, where Wyverns have only two legs and use their wings as their front limbs. Bit like a bat.