Color in the Rayo Vallecano football club for free

About this drawing

Rayo means lightning in Spanish, so the Rayo Vallecano crest certainly lives up to its name. The big bolt grabs your attention first, but the real story is the neighborhood behind it. The club was started in 1924 by residents of Vallecas, a working-class town on the edge of Madrid that was later absorbed by the growing capital.

Check out the little shield on the left. It holds a rake and a pitchfork surrounded by stalks of wheat, a reminder that Vallecas used to be farm country. The letters R, V and M stand for the team name and Madrid. Put together, the emblem says this is a club of local people, and that identity matters more to fans here than any trophy.

The white jersey with a red diagonal sash is just as distinctive. The team adopted it around the middle of the 1900s, inspired by a well-known Argentine club. The home stadium is unusual as well, because it has stands on only three sides, while the fourth side is basically a wall with apartment buildings behind it. Crowds sit close to the field, and the mood stays loud and neighborly. With two giant clubs across town, this team is like a corner diner surrounded by big chains, and its supporters would not trade it for anything.

• soccer
• team crests
• spain
• lightning