Mascots of Brazilian football sides
Each Brazilian football team has a number of symbols attached to it and used prominently by the fandom. Among these symbols are the badge, the flag, the anthem and the mascot. While the first three are commonplace all over the world, the last one is peculiarly Brazilian both in its character and its use.
A club's mascot is a cartoon character, often that of an animal, that symbolises some virtue boasted by the team. Most of them have proper names. Usually mascosts come in two versions, a "soft" une, which is the official and a "hardcore" one used by ultras and torcidas, which often contain traces of vulgarity or violence.
| Animals | ||
|---|---|---|
| ABC | Elefante | An elephant |
| América Futebol Clube (MG) | Coelho | A cute white "bunny" rabbit. Extremely popular. |
| Associação Atlética Ponte Preta | Macaca ("she-monkey") | A female ape. Extremely popular. |
| Associação Desportiva São Caetano | Azulão ("big blue") | A blue bird |
| Atlético Rio Negro Clube (AM) | Galo Carijó ("Spotty Rooster") | A black-and-white feathered rooster. |
| Avaí Futebol Clube | Leão | A lion |
| Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas | Biriba/Cachorro | A mongrel dog, very popular in the 40's/50's, is being adopted again by the fans since the late 1990s. |
| Brasiliense Futebol Clube | Jacaré | An alligator |
| Centro Sportivo Alagoano | Azulão ("big blue") | A blue bird |
| Clube Atlético Mineiro | Galo | A black-and-white feathered rooster. Extremely popular. |
| CRB | Galo-da-campina | A small white-red bird (the name translates literally into "country rooster") |
| Clube de Regatas do Flamengo | Urubu | A black vulture |
| Clube do Remo | Leão | A lion |
| Clube Náutico Capibaribe | Timbu | A brown opossum |
| Criciúma Esporte Clube | Tigrão | A tiger |
| Cruzeiro Esporte Clube | Raposa | A brown fox |
| Esporte Clube Juventude | Papagaio | A parrot |
| Esporte Clube Vitória | Leão | A lion |
| Ferroviário Atlético Clube (CE) | Tubarão | A white shark |
| Fluminense de Feira Futebol Clube | Touro do Sertão ("the bull from the outback") | A ferocious bull |
| Fortaleza Esporte Clube | Leão | A lion |
| Goiás Esporte Clube | Periquito | A green parakeet |
| Joinville Esporte Clube | Coelho | A rabbit |
| Maranhão Atlético Clube | Bode | A goat |
| Mogi Mirim Esporte Clube | Sapão ("he-toad") | A big green toad |
| Operário Futebol Clube (MS) (MS) | Galo | A rooster |
| Paraná Clube | Gralha azul | An Azure Jay, a dark-blue bird with a long beek |
| Piauí Esporte Clube | Ratinho | A mouse |
| Santa Cruz Futebol Clube | Cobra-coral | A Coral snake |
| Santos Futebol Clube | Peixe ("fish") | A white whale (though the whale is not actually fish). |
| Sociedade Esportiva do Gama | Periquito | A green parakeet |
| Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras | Periquito, Porco ("swine") | A green parakeet, the original and official mascot, and a hog, adopted by the supporters. The second is more popular nowadays. |
| Sport Club do Recife | Leão da Ilha ("Island Lion") | A lion |
| Treze Futebol Clube | Galo da Borborema | A rooster |
| Vila Nova Futebol Clube | Tigre | A tiger |
| Ypiranga Futebol Clube | Canarinho | A yellow domestic canary |
| Human (or Somewhat Human) Figures | ||
| América Football Club | Diabo | The devil, himself, pictured red, with pointy black beard, horns, arrow-pointed tail and sporting a trident. |
| ASA | Fantasma ("phantom") | A fiendish ghost |
| Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas | Manequinho | A boy pissing, a replica of Manneken Pis. Adopted in the 1980s, since the late 1990s is being replaced by the mangrel dog (used in the 1950s) among fans. |
| Botafogo Futebol Clube (PB) | Xerife | A sheriff |
| Ceará Sporting Club | Vovô ("grandpa") | An old man with a shotgun |
| Clube Atlético Paranaense | Furacão ("hurricane") | A lamp genie |
| Clube de Regatas Vasco da Gama | Almirante ("Admiral") | A Portuguese sea captain |
| Clube Sportivo Sergipe | Capeta ("demon") | The devil (with horns, pointy tail, trident and all) |
| Coritiba Football Club | Vovô ("grandpa") | An old man (usually sporting a cane or listening to a portable radio) |
| Esporte Clube Bahia | Super-Homem | A man in a blue super-hero costume, inspired on DC Comics' Superman. |
| Fluminense Football Club | Cartola ("Top Hat") | A man in a colourful suit and top hat. Not much used by the fandom. |
| Grêmio Esportivo Brasil | Xavante | An Indian |
| Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense | Mosqueteiro | A musketeer (a man in a 16th-century army uniform) |
| Guarani Futebol Clube | Bugre | An Indian |
| Clube Atlético Juventus (SP) | Moleque Travesso ("trickster boy") | A fair-haired boy with a freckled face (homage to the Italian immigrants who founded the club). |
| São Paulo Futebol Clube | Saint Paul | A white-bearded man with a halo over its head wearing the club's jersey. |
| Sociedade Esportiva e Recreativa Caxias do Sul | Bepe | A drunk man in Italian costume. |
| Sport Club Corinthians Paulista | Mosqueteiro | A musketeer (a man in a 16th-century army uniform) |
| Sport Club Internacional | Saci | A black one-legged boy wearing a phrygian cap and smoking from a pipe |
| Monsters and other | ||
| América Futebol Clube de Natal | Dragão | A dragon |
| Atlético Clube Goianiense | Dragão | A red dragon |
| Moto Clube (MA) | Bicho-papão | A red furry monster. |
| Paysandu Sport Club | Bicho-papão | A furry monster. Sometimes pictured as the "big bad wolf". |
| Souza Esporte Clube | Dinossauro | A dinosaur |
External links
- Mascotes do Futebol -- features custom cartoons (not the official ones, which are copyrighted by the clubs).
- Juarez Corrêa's cartoons are the most used officially. Also in paperback picture book elsewhere.