diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index 5312275..f3699d0 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Dockerfile
 .dockerignore
 README.md
 LICENSE
+VERSION
 node_modules/
 coverge/
 # dotenv environment variable files
diff --git a/src/api/index.js b/src/api/index.js
index d9a9460..85c4d10 100644
--- a/src/api/index.js
+++ b/src/api/index.js
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 const router = require('express').Router();
 const badgeRouter = require('./badge');
 const tagRouter = require('./tag');
+const versionRouter = require('./version');
 
 router.use(badgeRouter);
 router.use(tagRouter);
+router.use(versionRouter);
 
 module.exports = { router };
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/api/version.js b/src/api/version.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8192e33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/api/version.js
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+const router = require('express').Router();
+const version = require('../lib/version').version();
+
+router.get('/version', (req, res) => {
+  res.json({ badgedexVersion: version });
+});
+
+module.exports = router;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/index.js b/src/index.js
index 2bb1926..2557919 100644
--- a/src/index.js
+++ b/src/index.js
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ const express = require('express');
 const helmet = require('helmet');
 const app = express();
 const PORT = process.env.PORT || 3000;
+const version = require('./lib/version').version();
 
 const api = require('./api');
 
@@ -12,5 +13,6 @@ app.use(helmet({
 app.use('/', api.router);
 
 app.listen(PORT, () => {
-  console.log(`🚀 Badge API running at http://localhost:${PORT}/`);
+  console.log(`[ ${new Date()} ] [ 🚀 BadgeDex version: ${version} ]`);
+  console.log(`[ ${new Date()} ] [ 🚀 BadgeDex API running at http://localhost:${PORT}/ ]`);
 });
diff --git a/src/lib/version.js b/src/lib/version.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3d519af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/version.js
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+const fs = require('fs');
+
+
+const version = () => {
+    if (process.env.VERSION) {
+        return process.env.VERSION;
+    }
+    // Fallback to reading from a VERSION file
+    const versionPath = require('path').resolve(__dirname, '../../VERSION');
+    if (!fs.existsSync(versionPath)) {
+        throw new Error('VERSION file not found');
+    }
+    // Read the version from the VERSION file
+    const fileVersion = fs.readFileSync(versionPath, 'utf8').trim();
+    return fileVersion;
+}
+
+
+module.exports = { version };
\ No newline at end of file