The VCC crest (5), which the new crest replaces, has been Arsenal's symbol since appearing in the first new style magazine matchday programme of season 1949/50. It would appear to have been in the minds of the Gunners hierarchy for at least a year prior to this. In the final matchday programme of the 1947/48 League Championship winning season, 'Marksman' (aka Harry Homer), the programme editor of the day.

Two seasons later and Arsenal unveiled its new crest which incorporated Marksman's latin maxim. Tom Whittaker explained in the 1949/50 handbook (which also included the new crest) that the Club had been impressed by Marksman's motto and it had now been officially adopted by the Club. The new crest also featured 'Arsenal' in a gothic style typeface, the westward facing cannon, the Borough of Islington's coat of arms and ermine. For the past 53 years this crest has remained largely unchanged (6), though at the start of the 2001/02 season it was 'cleaned up' somewhat (7) for commercial reasons, with a solid yellow replacing the different tones of gold and Victoria Concordia Crescit written in a less ornate typeface.
The Club's identity has thus evolved over the years and the decision to formulate a new crest (8) in 2002 was two-fold. Firstly, as the VCC crest incorporated many separate elements introduced over a number of years, there was uncertainty surrounding its exact origination. Consequently, the Club was unable to copyright the VCC crest. Secondly, it had always been one of the Club's primary objectives to embrace the future and move forward. With a new stadium on the horizon and the Gunners consistently challenging for domestic and European honours, the Club believed that this was the ideal time to introduce a new crest.

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