Benfica are nicknamed As Águias (The Eagles), for the symbol atop the club's crest, and Os Encarnados (The Reds), for the shirt colour.

In that meeting, José Rosa Rodrigues was appointed club president, along with Daniel dos Santos Brito as secretary and Manuel Gourlade as treasurer.

The founders decided that the club's colours would be red and white and that the crest would be composed of an eagle, the motto "E pluribus unum" and a football.

[18] Despite important victories, such as the ones against Carcavelos and then-rivals Internacional,[19] the club suffered from poor operating conditions, namely the football dirt field of Terras do Desembargador.

For Grupo Sport Benfica, they maintained the field Campo da Feiteira,[20] the main directors and the club's house.

Furthermore, the two entities of the newly named club had simultaneous members who helped stabilize operations, which later increased the success of the merger.

[20] The Portuguese league began in 1934, and after finishing third in its first edition, Benfica won the next three championships in a row (1935–36, '36–37, '37–38) – the club's first tri, achieved by Lippo Hertzka.

[23] Throughout the 1940s, Benfica would win three more Primeira Liga (1941–42, '42–43, '44–45) and four Taça de Portugal (1940, '43, '44, '49), with coach János Biri achieving the first double for the club in 1943.

[24] Benfica's first international success happened in 1950, when they won the Latin Cup (the only Portuguese club to do so),[25] defeating Bordeaux with a golden goal from Julinho at the Estádio Nacional in Lisbon,[26][27] with Ted Smith as coach.

[27] With the election of president Joaquim Ferreira Bogalho in 1952 and the arrival of coach Otto Glória in 1954,[28] Benfica became more modernized and professional[31] and moved into the original Estádio da Luz, with an initial seating capacity of 40,000; expanded to 70,000 in 1960.

Despite being Portuguese champions in 1955, Benfica were not invited to the inaugural European Cup by the organizers, thus making their UEFA debut in 1957–58 against Sevilla.

[50] During the 1970s, with president Borges Coutinho, Benfica continued dominating Portuguese football, as they won six Primeira Liga titles (1970–71, '71–72, '72–73, '74–75, '75–76, '76–77) and two Taça de Portugal (1970, '72).

Later, under the guidance of Sven-Göran Eriksson, they won two consecutive Primeira Liga (1982–83, '83–84), one Taça de Portugal (1983) and reached the final of the UEFA Cup in 1983, lost to Anderlecht.

[17] Financial trouble in the early 1980s[56] and a large investment on players throughout that decade started to deteriorate the club's finances under Jorge de Brito's presidency.

[60][61] Soon after, with president João Vale e Azevedo, Benfica was in huge debt and sometimes unable to pay taxes and player salaries.

Back in 2000, club members had approved the construction of the new Estádio da Luz shortly after the election of Manuel Vilarinho.

[66] In 2003–04, with president Luís Filipe Vieira, Benfica ended their longest silverware drought by winning the Taça de Portugal.

[86] Internationally, a year after they had consecutively reached the Champions League knockout phase for the first time in their history,[87] Benfica suffered their biggest loss in the competition, 5–0 to Basel, and went on setting the worst Portuguese group stage campaign.

[88] Following negative results in 2018–19,[88] coach Bruno Lage led Benfica to their 37th champions title while achieving the league's all-time best second round.

[96][97] Benfica's crest is composed of an eagle, as a symbol of independence, authority and nobility, positioned atop a shield with red and white colours, symbolizing bravery and peace respectively; the motto "E pluribus unum" ("Out of many, one"), defining union between all members; and the club's initials, "SLB", over a football – all this superimposed on a bicycle wheel representing one of the club's first sports, cycling.

This changed in 1936 with the start of the Spanish Civil War: the Portuguese Estado Novo's Censorship Commission censored the word "vermelhos" because the Popular Front communists in Spain were also known by that name.

[2][3][4] According to a study performed for UEFA in 2012, Benfica is the European club with the highest share of football supporters in its own country (47%).

[125][126] The highest home attendance record was set in 2016–17; 64,519 spectators saw Benfica's 5–0 win over Vitória de Guimarães in the season's last match at Da Luz.

Benfica members may also participate and vote in general assemblies, submit proposals, take part in discussions, be elected to governing bodies, be designated for positions or functions at the club, and so forth.

[128] On 9 November 2006, Benfica set the Guinness World Record for "the most widely supported football club", with 160,398 paid-up members.

[135] In 2014, according to a study by Movimento Por Um Futebol Melhor, Benfica had 270,000 members and was the biggest club in the world in membership terms.

[173] On 31 July 2014, the SAD completed the acquisition of Benfica Stars Fund by spending roughly €28.9 million for 85% of units, thus purchasing the remaining economic rights of nine players.

[176] In May 2015, Emirates airline signed a three-year sponsorship deal worth up to €30 million to become Benfica's main jersey sponsor.

[177][178] Then in December, Benfica sold the TV rights of their first-team home matches as well as Benfica TV's broadcasting and distribution rights to NOS in a three-year deal, receiving €40 million per season, with the option to extend the contract to a maximum of ten seasons, totalling €400 million.

On 27 January 2004, Benfica retired squad number 29 in memory of Miklós Fehér, who had died while playing for them two days earlier.