NC’s 2 biggest metros are showing off pricey logos. But one cost a lot more.

Raleigh and Charlotte revealed new city logos in November. Both were pricey, but Raleigh’s cost nearly 10 times more than Charlotte’s.

Raleigh paid $226,000 for its logo and other branding efforts, and Charlotte $25,000.

Raleigh unveiled the oak tree-inspired logo on Nov. 8. The design has curved- and parallelogram-shaped leaves on either side of the tree to represent Raleigh’s vegetation and high-tech industries.

This week Charlotte revealed its logo, which is a variation of a crown above the the city’s name and “CLT.” The crown is presumably a homage to the city’s nickname “Queen City,” which was chartered by King George III after his wife, Queen Charlotte.

Both logos received criticism based on the design.

But Raleigh’s logo in particular had a lot of residents questioning the nearly quarter million-dollar price tag.

Raleigh paid Cubic Inc., Oklahoma-based consultants, $83,000 to compile resident and employee perceptions of Raleigh government and $143,000 to The Assembly, a local design firm to develop the branding and logo based on Cubic’s research.

Before the logo, Raleigh used a seal with an oak tree surrounded by garlands for all official city branding.

“We’ve butchered the seal and abused it,” Raleigh communications director Damien Graham told The News & Observer earlier this month. “It’s lost leaves, gained leaves, and frankly, we’ve been disrespecting this seal for a long time. Our goal is to preserve it and use it in capacities it’s designed for, in official capacities.”

This story was originally published November 16, 2017 at 11:28 AM with the headline "NC’s 2 biggest metros are showing off pricey logos. But one cost a lot more.."