The club were known as Spartak Ordzhonikidze throughout the Soviet period. After 1990 the city reverted to its original name (Vladikavkaz) and the club followed suit. A variety of combinations of Spartak and Alania have been used for the club name in the years since, often due to finance-driven club reorganizations. The most recent came in 2006 when they were excluded from the Russian First Division for financial irregularities after a lengthy saga. They reorganized as a new club in the Russian Second Division and gained immediate promotion.
Vladikavkaz is the principal city in the republic of North Ossetia-Alania, a region of southern Russia. Alania was a medieval kingdom in the Caucasus, the center of the Alani people who modern-day Ossetians are descended from. Spartak references Spartacus, the legendary leader of a slave revolt in the Roman Empire. The club's emblem references the coat of arms of North Ossetia-Alania - red, white and yellow with a snow leopard at the front.
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