 Chelsea have had four main crests , which all underwent minor variations . The first , adopted when the club was founded , was the image of a Chelsea pensioner , the army veterans who reside at the nearby Royal Hospital Chelsea . This contributed to the club 's original " pensioner " nickname , and remained for the next half @-@ century , though it never appeared on the shirts . When Ted Drake became Chelsea manager in 1952 , he began to modernise the club . Believing the Chelsea pensioner crest to be old @-@ fashioned , he insisted that it be replaced . A stop @-@ gap badge which comprised the initials C.F.C. was adopted for a year . In 1953 , the club crest was changed to an upright blue lion looking backwards and holding a staff . It was based on elements in the coat of arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea with the " lion rampant regardant " taken from the arms of then club president Viscount Chelsea and the staff from the Abbots of Westminster , former Lords of the Manor of Chelsea . It also featured three red roses , to represent England , and two footballs . This was the first Chelsea crest to appear on the shirts , in the early 1960s . 
