Charlotte Hornets


 * For the NBA team formerly known as the Hornets, see New Orleans Pelicans.

1988–2002
The Hornets intended to use a logo with the interlocking letters "C" and "H" and a hornet carrying a basketball as their primary symbol, but the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League deemed it too similar to their own logo and threatened legal action. The Hornets ended up using their original secondary "Hugo the Hornet" logo as their primary icon instead; however, the original symbol was still used on the shorts until 1990 (albeit without the "C").

In 2002, the Hornets relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana, where they were known as the New Orleans Hornets until changing their name to the Pelicans in 2013.

2004–2012


In 2004, the Charlotte Bobcats were founded as a new organization after the NBA accepted a proposal for a new franchise in Charlotte.

2014–present


In 2013, following the New Orleans Hornets' rebranding as the Pelicans, the Bobcats announced that they intended to revive the Charlotte Hornets name for the 2014–15 season. After the team's new branding was unveiled on December 21, 2013, the renaming was finalized on May 20, 2014. In a transaction similar to the Cleveland Browns' re-entry into the NFL in 1999, the new Hornets acquired the history and records of the Pelicans franchise from before 2002.