The first crest had a simple design consisting of a decorative interlacing of the three initials of the club, "MCF" for Madrid Club de Fútbol, in dark blue on a white shirt. The first change in the crest occurred in 1908 when the letters adopted a more streamlined form and appeared inside a circle.
The next change in the configuration of the crest did not occur until the presidency of
Pedro Parages in 1920. At that time,
King Alfonso XIII granted the club his royal patronage which came in the form of the title "Real madrid", roughly translated as "Royal".
Thus, Alfonso's crown was added to the crest and the club styled itself
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol.
With the dissolution of the monarchy in 1931, all the royal symbols (the crown on the crest and the title of Real) were eliminated. The crown was replaced by the dark mulberry band of the Region of Castile
In 1941, two years after the end of the
Civil War, the crest's "Real Corona", or "Royal Crown", was restored while the mulberry stripe of
Castile was retained as well.
In addition, the whole crest was made full color, with gold being the most prominent, and the club was again called Real Madrid Club de Fútbol.
The most recent modification to the crest occurred in 2001 when the club wanted to better situate itself for the 21st century and further standardize its crest. One of the modifications made was changing the mulberry stripe to a more bluish shade.
Real Madrid's traditional home colours are all white, although it initially adopted a blue oblique stripe on the shirt (the design was kept in the club crest); but unlike today, dark blue socks were worn
.The striped shirt was replaced by an all-white version, modeled after the shirt worn by
Corinthian F.C., in 1902.
In the same year, the blue socks were replaced by black ones. By the early 1940s the manager changed the kit again by adding buttons to the shirt and the club's crest on the left breast (which have remained ever since). On 23 November 1947, in a game against
Atlético Madrid at the
Metropolitano Stadium, Real Madrid became the first Spanish team to wear numbered shirts.
Real's traditional away colours are all black or all purple. The club's kit is currently manufactured by
Adidas whose contract extends from 1998.
Real Madrid's first shirt sponsor,
Zanussi, agreed for the 1982–83, 1983–84 and 1984–85 seasons. Following that, the club was sponsored by
Parmalat and Otaysa before a long-term deal was signed with Teka in 1992
.In 2001, Real Madrid ended their contract with Teka and for one season used the Realmadrid.com logo to promote the club's website. Then, in 2002, a deal was signed with Siemens Mobile and in 2006, the
BenQ Siemens logo appeared on the club's shirt.
Real Madrid's current shirt sponsor is
bwin.com following the economic problems of BenQ Siemens.
Shirt sponsors and manufacturers
| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt partner |
| 1980–1982 | Adidas | None |
| 1982–1985 | Zanussi |
| 1985–1989 | Hummel | Parmalat |
| 1989–1991 | Reny Picot |
| 1991–1992 | Otaysa |
| 1992–1994 | Teka |
| 1994–1998 | Kelme |
| 1998–2001 | Adidas |
| 2001–2002 | None |
| 2002–2005 | Siemens mobile |
| 2005–2006 | Siemens |
| 2006–2007 | BenQ Siemens |
| 2007–Present | bwin.com |
