One notable thing about Arsenal’s kits this season is the lack of their club badge.

The traditional Gunners badge can’t be seen on any of Arsenal‘s kits this season, with a special cannon there instead.

The Arsenal badge is gone this yearGetty

While the cannon design looks smart, the lack of the club crest has left many fans wondering where it is…

Why do Arsenal not have their club badge on their kits this season?

The first thing to say is that this isn’t a permanent change, and the badge will be back on Arsenal kits next season.

However, the club and Adidas appreciate the symbolism of some of the old badges and crests.

Therefore, after the success of trialling the cannon on 2022/23’s black away shirt, they decided to use it on all of their kits this year.

This isn’t an unusual thing for clubs to do, with retro badges appearing more and more on various kits across the division.

However, it is a bit strange to see the same on a home shirt rather than an away or third strips.

This is the first time since the 1989/90 season that Arsenal have used just the cannon rather than their usual badge.

However, even then, there was ‘AFC’ inscribed just above it, so you have to go back to the 1970s to find the last time that the Gunners just used the cannon and nothing else on the home kit.

The cannon is on every Arsenal shirt this yearGetty

The cannon looks very smart, and Adidas have done a great job

Despite the change this season, the cannon isn’t here to stay.

The Arsenal crest is one of the more visually striking in the Premier League, so it would be a shame if they decided to ditch it.

And as it stands, there are no plans for the Gunners to do that for various reasons.

One is that the current Arsenal badge has been the club’s since 2002, and it has a deep connection with the fans.

The Invincibles year came with Arsenal wearing this badge, while there were so many memorable Arsene Wenger moments as well.

So, to abandon that history would likely not go down well with the Gunners fans.

Meanwhile, to make a permanent change, the FA guidelines state that clubs must undertake a formal consultation process with supporters.

Clubs cannot simply decide to change their badges for good without some sort of fan approval.

Therefore, it’s unlikely this permanent crest re-design will ever happen.