Cleveland Guardians Unveiled as MLB Team's New Nickname with New Logo and Design

Cleveland's Major League Baseball franchise announced Friday its new nickname will be the Guardians.

In addition to announcing the new moniker, Cleveland unveiled the new logo it will wear once the name change is completed.

Joon Lee of ESPN provided a closer look at the new logos and some of the similarities in design with the previous version:

After years of criticism and backlash over the previous name, including protesters setting up outside of Progressive Field, the club issued a statement in December 2020 announcing it was beginning the process of dropping it from its title.

Cleveland owner Paul Dolan told MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince that the team would continue to use the old nickname through the 2021 season and the earliest a new one would be implemented was 2022.

Speaking to reporters in March, Dolan said he would know "sometime in the middle of this year" if the name could be changed in 2022 or if it would have to be pushed until 2023.

"The real challenge is finding a name that works that we can use," said Dolan. "There aren't many words in the English language that somebody doesn't own in some shape or form. Particularly in the sports realm, that's a real challenge."

The franchise adopted its previous nickname prior to the 1915 season.