The real reason why Vincent Tan changed Cardiff City's badge and colour to red in 2012 | OneFootball

Football League World looks at why Vincent Tan changed Cardiff City from red to blue

Vincent Tan has endured a turbulent relationship with the Cardiff City fanbase over the last 13 years, having first purchased the Welsh club back in 2010.

Cardiff have twice achieved promotion to the Premier League under Tan's watch, something they had fallen historically short of prior to the Malaysian businessman's purchase, and he has also ploughed significant investment into the club, losing a great deal of money in the process.

There are obvious redeeming qualities of his ownership, but Tan has been far from faultless. The interminable turnover of both managers and the playing squad over the last few years amid numerous battles against relegation and Tan's own reluctance to hire an official sporting director are pertinent and recent concerns, but, truth be told, he has been unable to truly win the fanbase back ever since the controversial decision to rebrand the club's historic blue home strip and badge in 2012.

That year, Tan sent shockwaves not just throughout the Welsh capital, but indeed up and down the country and beyond, when he decided to change Cardiff's blue home shirt to the colour red, also changing the club's badge to feature a prominent red dragon in place of the Bluebird feature synonymous with Cardiff since they were founded all the way back in 1899.

Multiple protests and campaigns were staged over the next two years, with the toxicity and backlash understandably overshadowing Cardiff's first-ever promotion to the Premier League in the 2012/13 season as champions. Tan eventually gave in and reverted the colours back to blue and changed the badge, too, but it's a decision which supporters simply have not forgotten.

Looking back, why did Tan ever decide to make the radical change in the first place? Football League World takes a closer look...

Why Vincent Tan changed Cardiff's home shirt and badge

There are two reasons why Tan made the call, and they both overlap.

Tan, who hails from Malaysia, was encouraged by the school of thought that red is a lucky colour back in his homeland and other parts of Asia.

It was hoped that by changing the colour to red, Cardiff would draw more appeal from Asian markets and subsequently enjoy commercial growth.

A statement by the club addressing the change read: "Cardiff City Football Club will reactivate rebranding proposals with a view to exploiting and maximising its brand and commercial revenues in international markets, which is hoped in turn will bring success to the club locally, whilst also attracting new partners and investors."

Tan wanted Cardiff to be more internationally-visible and appealing, but that failed to compensate for the wretched mood around the club for those two-and-a-half years. Supporters were rightly dismayed at the way in which the club's iconic identity had been axed for the purpose of commercial growth, and Tan finally had enough and changed Cardiff back to their beloved blue in January 2015.

Vincent Tan's Cardiff City rebrand is still visible

Cardiff have been back in blue ever since and the badge now has the Bluebirds crest front-centre once more, but Tan's rebrand is not completely in the past just yet.

That's because the seats in the upper section of the Ninian Stand are still painted red to this day, which remains a sore spot among supporters. In 2014, Cardiff expanded the Ninian Stand ahead of the 2014 Super Cup Final between Real Madrid and Sevilla, which was hosted at the Cardiff City Stadium, and the expansion features red seats.