I'm sure there was at least a handful of confused onlookers in the Philadelphia crowd today during the unveiling of their new MLS team's name and logo: The new Philadelphia "Union" logo features stars, a crest and... a coiled snake?

A quick flashback to eighth-grade history reveals that the snake was actually a symbol first used by Benjamin Franklin to represent the original 13 colonies -- or "Union" -- just prior to and during the American Revolution. "Don't tread on me," anybody?

History lessons aside, the logo is quite nice; Its baby blue, navy and bronze color scheme, coupled with the (13) stars and crest design really convey an military feel, with out resorting to the standard red, white and blue (I'm talking to you, New England Revolution).

It's a near-brilliant piece of logo work, combining relevant historical and thematic elements with very modern shapes and colors. And while I wouldn't call it the best logo in the City of Brotherly Love (that award goes to the Soul), there's far worse logos floating around MLS (like this hideous piece of sponsor promotion).

The worst part of the new Philadelphia Union image? The unfortunately sophomoric initials: P.U.