In 1957, a new NBA team was formed in Detroit, which was named the "Pistons" because Detroit was also known as the "Motor City". The earliest icons are "Detroit Pistons" on a basketball outlined with blue lines in red strokes, "Basketball Club" in small red font below, and the full name of "NBA" in smaller blue font at the bottom.
In 1971, the full name of the NBA was removed, and the rest remained unchanged.
In 1975, the "Basketball Club" in the team emblem was replaced with "NBA", and the font was all solid orange.
In 1979, the team again optimized the team emblem, reducing the font of the team name to white, and removing the word "NBA". Basketballs are white-edged on a red background with a blue rim on the periphery.
In 1996, the Pistons were redesigned in response to the trend of complicating the emblems of many NBA teams. On the basis of the original red basketball, a black horse head design with burning manes was added, and the two "S" in the team name were also artistically transformed into fire-breathing exhaust pipes, and the whole icon was full of metallic feeling, which is a classic team emblem that can be ranked in NBA history.
In 2001, the Pistons adjusted the color of the icon, and the whole pattern was composed of only four colors: red, white, blue and gray, which made the colors more coordinated, but the metallic and impact were not as good as the previous version.
In 2005, the intricate horse's head design was removed from the crest, and the words "Pistons" in larger font and "Detroit" in smaller font above were replaced with a slight arc around the basketball.
In 2017, the emblem was restored to its 1979 design, with only minor adjustments to the font, which is still in use today.