Istanbulspor, a distinguished sports club that bears the color, logo and name of Istanbul High School, and established on the fundamentals of wisdom of this high school, has a special place in Turkish sports history. Despite all the difficulties the club has faced, Istanbulspor, with its historical achievements, have managed to expand its activities to many different areas in addition to football.
Istanbulspor’s squad in 1926, the average age of which was 20,
at Taksim Stadium while accepting the 2. League Championship Cup.
The foundation of Istanbulspor dates back to 1924. In order to keep alive the memory of Sirkeci Suleymaniye Club’s player nicknamed “Yavru Saim” who died at a young age, a new team was established under the leadership of Suleymaniye player Kemal Halim Bey (Gurgen). This team, mainly consisting of Istanbul High School students, left Suleymaniye in 1925 and first joined Cerrahpasa Kardesler Gucu (Cim-Kaf-Kef), and then the now inactive Gurbuzler Ocagi club. In 1925, the name of this club was changed to Istanbul Sports Club and the club started to compete in sub league. The first logo of the club was a black star on a white background.
On January 4, 1926, the club merged with Istanbul Erkek Lisesi at a congress and changed its colors from black and white to yellow and black. This date is also considered the foundation date of Istanbulspor. The story of the yellow-black colors of Istanbul High School is also quite meaningful. While the “Black” comes from the mourning held for the soldiers who were martyred in World War I, the “Yellow” comes from the wall color of the high school building, which was used as a hospital at that time, in memory of war veteran students.
HISTORY OF THE LOGO
From 1924 until the merger with Istanbul High School in 1926, the logo of Istanbulspor consisted of a black star on a white background. The logo and colors of the previous Makrikoy Idman Yurdu and Gurbuzlar Ocagi clubs, on the other hand, is unknown. Istanbulspor, which used the black star on a yellow background for a short time after merging with the high school, started using the logo of the high school “with the colors reversed” (black on a yellow background), starting from the 1929-30 season. When Istanbulspor returned to Super League in 1995, the current “Moon-Star” format was added to its logo.
When Istanbulspor returned to Super League in 1995, the current “Moon-Star” format was added to its logo.
The logo of Istanbul High School was created in 1915 by Nejat Sier, a graduate of 1919, by combining the letters “elif” and “sin” with the moon and star. The logo, which underwent several minor changes from 1915 to 1938, was given its final shape by Orhan Omay, a graduate of 1938. In this design, Omay brought together the I of Istanbul, L of Lise (High School) and S of Sakarya, which is the name of the high school’s scout group, with the moon and star.
THE HISTORY OF COLORS
During the First World War, the European countries attacked to Canakkale in order to invade the Ottoman Empire. Their aim was to pass Canakkale and capture the Ottoman capital Istanbul, but the plans of the invaders failed. They could not pass Canakkale. The Turkish Army said, “Canakkale is impassable”. The enemies failed to pass Canakkale, but we lost almost 250 thousand people, including university and high school students. In 1915, Istanbul Erkek Lisesi (Istanbul Boys High School) was located in the building where today’s Saint Benoit school is located in Galata. The wounded Istanbul Erkek Lisesi students who went to Canakkale to defend their countries were returning to Istanbul for treatment. For this reason, the stone walls of the school were painted “Yellow“, which was the hospitals’ color at that time. Those who have been treated were going to fight in Canakkale again. Wednesday, May 19, 1915 was the bloodiest day of the Canakkale Battle with the most casualties. At the end of the 6,5 hours of clash, all of the 10 thousand soldiers from the 2nd division, most of whom were students, died. Youngsters were slaughtered by the machine guns spewing death. After that bloody day, none of the Istanbul High School students who volunteered for the war could return to their schools. When the news of the martyrdom of the students reached the school, the school took on a dark mourning mood. The remaining students painted the window sills and doors in black in memory of their martyred friends and brothers to express their grief. The colors of the school were thus adopted as Yellow–Black. These two colors have been the symbol of unity and togetherness since that date. Later, Istanbulspor, which was born from within the school, also adopted Yellow and Black as its colors.
Istanbul Erkek Lisesi students who voluntarily participated in the war
While the “Black” comes from the mourning held for the soldiers who were martyred in World War I, the “Yellow” comes from the wall color of the high school building, which was used as a hospital at that time, in memory of war veteran students.
Istanbulspor’s squad in 1926, the average age of which was 20, at Taksim Stadium while accepting the 2. League Championship Cup.
