What is a badge in any case? It’s a complicated question to answer.

Perhaps your football club’s most ubiquitous symbol is a storied, heraldic design harking back to the local coat of arms or a sleek, modern design dreamt up to look effortlessly slick emblazoned on modern sportswear.

But why is there a tree? Or a bee? Or a devil?

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This week, The Athletic is breaking down the details hiding in plain sight and explaining what makes your club badge.

Amid the snarling wolves, crossed hammers and swooping eagles of the Premier League, the modest little tower on Everton’s badge can perhaps, to outsiders at least, seem a little underwhelming.

But as you might expect from one of the founding clubs of English football, the 235-year-old structure that still sits on a hill overlooking Liverpool is rich with history and intrigue.

Perched at the top of Everton Brow is Everton Park, the site of the famous Lock-Up Tower that adorns the club’s crest. In clear weather, Everton Park offers views of the River Mersey and north Wales, and it’s a tradition dating back to the 18th century that revellers would head there for a drink or picnic.

“It became so popular that there was a lot of commotion late at night,” Ken Rogers, of the EFC Heritage Society tells The Athletic. “The structure was built to hold people who had too much of a good time.

“The next day, the local magistrate would send someone up to either let them go or send them to the courts in Liverpool.”

A lifelong Everton fan and former chief football writer at the Liverpool Echo, Rogers grew up in Everton and now works with the Heritage Society and Friends of Everton Park, playing an important role in recounting the club’s history and ensuring symbolic landmarks such as the Lock-Up are adequately maintained.

“It has a kind of folklore about it and is erroneously called Prince Rupert’s Tower sometimes,” Rogers says. “Prince Rupert of the Rhine was related to the English king during the Civil War, when the site was used as the base by the royalists to capture the town below.

“He took a cottage not far from the tower site as his strategic headquarters. The tower, of course, wasn’t built then, so to call it that is incorrect. But because of folklore and Rupert’s links with Everton, that’s the name it was given.

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“When I was a boy, my father would tell me that if you could get into the Tower — it had always been locked — there was a trapdoor and a staircase leading down to a canal that would enable you to secretly reach the Mersey by boat. All the local kids believed this. Local folklore said that Rupert’s treasure was under the tower.”

Some of the messaging may be confused — it is still common to hear people refer to Rupert’s Tower — but the Lock-Up has been the symbol for modern Everton since it first appeared on the club shirt back in the late 1970s, a nod to history and the club’s foundation.

“It is the definitive symbol of the district of Everton and within touching distance of the birthplace of big-time football on Merseyside,” says Rogers. “Less than 20 yards from the tower site — the symbol not just of the football club but also of the district of Everton — is the site of the former Queen’s Head Hotel.”

It was there that in 1879, the local Methodist football club called St Domingo FC had a meeting. They were becoming so popular that they thought they should have a different name to that of a church. They came out of that meeting as Everton Football Club.

“That’s interesting because St Domingo were playing in Stanley Park at the time,” says Rogers. “The park is bordered by Walton and Anfield, so they could have chosen to name the side Walton FC or Anfield FC. It was only because they were meeting in the Queen’s Head in Everton that they chose Everton FC.”

Everton teamed up with the city council and the Friends of Everton Park to spruce the tower up eight years ago. Then-manager Roberto Martinez flicked the switch in a ceremony to mark the tower being illuminated. That came about after the club lit it up for a Christmas campaign to turn the city blue in 2012. It made such an impact that the council approached the club to help make it permanent.

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At the time, Everton chairman Bill Kenwright said: “For me, the Everton tower has always had a special meaning. When I first became an Evertonian, one of the first things I wanted to find out was its origin.

“I cannot tell you the number of times I have stood below the tower or next to it. I get a lot of inspiration from that old tower because it is at the heart of our club badge.”

The tower remains an important symbol of the club and its brand, even as it expands into a global business. This season, Danish kit manufacturer Hummel tweaked the crest on Everton’s third kit, forgoing the Latin motto and laurel leaves to present just a simple silhouette of the Lock-Up.

It is likely to be a temporary change — in 2013, a successful fan campaign forced the club to apologise after revealing a new crest that removed the laurels and “Nil Satis Nisi Optimum” motto (“nothing but the best is good enough”). Supporters were then allowed to choose the new iteration, which remains today with its historic centrepiece intact.

Whether it contains hidden treasure or not, the tower remains a priceless part of Everton’s identity.

(Top image: designed by Samuel Richardson)