I was asked to design a logo for the wonderful Team IRN (Iran) for the Roller Derby World Cup 2018.

Initially the team had two main ideas - the Simorgh and the Lion and Sun which are both culturally strong Iranian imagery.

After working with the team on concepts, the Simorgh made itself known.

The Simorgh is a benevolent, mythical bird in Iranian Mythology. It is sometimes equated with the Phoenix.

Team IRN derby player Liloo describes the Simorgh: “It’s kind of like a phoenix, but more like the royalty of the birds. A lot of birds, the Conference of the birds, were living together in discord and they wanted royalty to rule over them. They went on a quest to the portal where the king of the birds should be, having many adventures along the way, and eventually they discover that they are the Simorgh, all thirty of them together. The name Simorgh literally means thirty birds.” Jaz adds, “hopefully some day there will be thirty of us! We are a lot less than thirty but one day…”

Roller Derby uniform company Frogmouth sponsored all uniforms, helmets and armbands.

For an excellent article about this teams awe-some journey to the RDWC 2018, click here