The Cleveland Indians are no more, as the franchise has officially changed its nickname. They are now the Cleveland Guardians.
Cleveland’s MLB franchise released a video on Friday introducing their new nickname, the Guardians. The video, which you can see below, was narrated by Tom Hanks.
Together, we are all… pic.twitter.com/R5FnT4kv1I
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) July 23, 2021
Here are some of the new logos the team will use with its rebranding:
The Cleveland Indians announce they are changing their name to the Guardians. pic.twitter.com/1xP1FyMsbh
— Sporting News (@sportingnews) July 23, 2021
While it was not explained in the announcement video, the name “Guardians” is not random. It probably helps that it sounds a lot like “Indians,” but there is a historical significance in Cleveland. As many explained on Twitter, Cleveland’s Hope Memorial Bridge, which is near Progressive Field, features a pair of statues at each end. The statues are known as the “Guardians” and were shown in the team’s video.
Cleveland revealed last year that it would be changing its name in light of protests from Native American groups. We saw the same happen with the Washington Redskins becoming the Washington Football Team, though that name is not expected to be permanent.
Cleveland started phasing out some symbols of its Indians nickname many years ago, and changing the nickname to Guardians is the final step in the process.
