Update, 12:30 p.m.: The Kansas City Star reports that "the fountain/heart logo is on the official flag of the city. And a similar logo makes up the official seal."

That won't change unless it's brought before the City Council for a vote. So, this new image will serve as a secondary brand, a marketing logo.

As city communications director Danny Rotert told the Star: "We are going to use this new symbol on marketing pieces. It adds a new look to our (television) station and upcoming website." This site is scheduled to launch on January 1, 2014.

Update, Friday at 11:15 a.m.: "We’re honored that Kansas City’s baseball heritage has served as part of the inspiration for the city’s new logo. The Kansas City Monarchs were one of the greatest baseball franchises, not only in Black Baseball history, but in baseball history," says Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

"The new brand embraces that history and we believe will provide an even greater connection to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum for residents and visitors to our great city."

Original story follows:

After displaying the same logo for more than two decades, a fountain shaped like a heart, a new image for the city of Kansas City, Mo. was revealed on Thursday.

"It will seem very familiar to people. And I think that's really important," says Danny Rotert, the city's communications director. "What we didn't want to do is to create a new brand for the city that people would have to scratch their head and wonder what it was."

Rotert says they're calling the brand a "linked K and C," with a nod to the logo of the Kansas City Monarchs, considered one of the best-known and most successful Negro Leagues baseball teams.

"One of the things that we really think is important is that that brand and that endeavor was an entrepreneurial endeavor. It was something that happened right here in Kansas City that really brought us to the national stage," says Rotert. "So in some ways, reflecting that has been important for us."

The image was designed by Emily Elmore, creative director and managing partner at Single Wing Creative, a Kansas City-based company.

Elmore says the process to create an "immediately recognizable mark" began by researching Kansas City's history and then developing imagery to reflect the past. She says it also connects to the city's sports teams and entrepreneurship.

"I wanted to create a 'linked' logo that can show a connection between a young and innovative new City with the roots of a City that has always had an edge," says Elmore. "Artists, creators, makers and doers call Kansas City home. The new brand capitalizes on that energy and yet can be described as visually classic."