The 2025 Major League Soccer season isn’t over yet, but Atlanta United is already teasing fans with hints of their new secondary kit for 2026.
The team took out a full-page ad in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday, September 18, featuring a gold medal with the Atlanta United crest attached to a medal ribbon from the 1996 Summer Olympics, which were held in Atlanta. (The day the ad aired marked the 35th anniversary of the announcement of the Games being awarded to Atlanta.) The darker gold portions of the crest are dotted with stars.
Later that day they released a video on social media showing the ad with the gold medal hanging on a rack alongside other secondary kits from the club’s history.
IT’S ATLANTA!
35 years ago, the city of Atlanta hosted the Centennial Olympic Games. We do not seek the light, it follows us. We are ready to welcome the world…
AGAIN.
— Atlanta United newspaper ad
2026 would mark the 30th anniversary of the 1996 Summer Olympics, which took place in Atlanta from July 19 to August 4. These games celebrated the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympic Games, the inaugural edition of which was held in Athens, Greece in 1896.
The Atlanta Games logo featured a red light atop a golden pedestal, with its flames transforming into multi-colored stars, all against a forest green background. Under the pedestal were the Olympic rings and the number 100, also in gold.
The medals, on the other hand, had forest green ribbons on which lighter green leaves were embroidered. The ribbons had gold borders and “Atlanta 1996” embroidered in gold, with a gold logo between the words. The medals themselves had the traditional design depicting the goddess of victory on the front and the Atlanta 1996 logo on the back as well as a stylized olive branch design and “CENTENNIAL OLYMPICS” around the exterior.
The United States won the most medals at the 1996 Games, with 44 gold, 32 silver and 25 bronze, for a total of 101. Russia was second in the medal table with 26 gold, 21 silver and 16 bronze, while Germany was third with 20 gold, 18 silver and 27 bronze.
Would you like to see design elements from the 1996 Summer Olympics incorporated into a new secondary kit for Atlanta United? Let us know in the comments!
