Color the Celta de Vigo crest for free

About this drawing

Spain probably isn't the first place that comes to mind when you hear the word Celtic, yet the Celta Vigo crest points straight to that history. Galicia, the region in the far northwest, is full of ancient hilltop villages, bagpipe music and old legends that many people connect with Celtic peoples. When the club was formed in 1923, it chose a name that claimed that heritage.

It came about through a merger. Two rival teams in the port city of Vigo decided they would be stronger together, a move that rarely happens among fierce neighbors. The new club wanted to represent all of Galicia rather than one neighborhood, and the name fit. Today the team plays at Balaidos, a stadium that has hosted soccer for generations, and it wears sky blue, a close match to the blue on the Galician flag.

The red shape on the emblem is the Cross of Saint James. Medieval knights used this sword-like design, and it became linked with the pilgrimage route that still leads hikers across northern Spain to the city of Santiago de Compostela. Thousands walk it each year, some of them Americans who plan the trip for months. Vigo itself looks to the ocean, with one of Europe's busiest fishing ports, so a game day there mixes salt air, seafood and a very old symbol.

• soccer
• team crests
• spain
• pilgrimage