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Les Expos de Montréal began play for the 1969 season as Major League Baseball's first non-U.S. based franchise. The club was named after the hugely successful Expo '67 festival which the city had hosted just prior to being granted the new team.
The Expos logo, often misinterpreted, is a combination of the team initials when spoken in French -- an "e" (in red on the left), an "M" (half in white, half in blue), and a "b" (in blue on the right) -- the eMb represnts "(les) Expos (de) Montréal Baseball". The Expos are perhaps most famous for their pinwheel caps, which they wore both at home and on the road from 1969 through the end of the 1991 season. The caps were designed to reflect a carnival atmosphere, carrying on with the Expo '67 theme.
After several seasons of disappointing attendance figures (including two seasons splitting home games with San Juan), lack of any owner interested in keeping the club in town, and no government support for a new stadium, the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington, D.C. for the beginning of the 2005 season where they were re-named the Washington Nationals.