Whenever a debate creeps up about the Redskins’ uniforms, many people trot out the word “tradition” in defense of the current outfit. It’s not an unreasonable position. However, the Redskins haven’t always worn their current uniform. They did not adopt the current uniform set until 1979. The first half of our franchise’s history didn’t involve the uniform we know today. Along with a rich tradition of uniform history, there is also a long line-up in the Redskins helmet history.
From leather caps in the 1930s to the spear and feather emblems of the 1960s, the Redskins have worn many unique helmet designs — each representing a different era of the team’s rich and evolving history. This post offers a complete breakdown of the Redskins helmets throughout history, highlighting some of the distinct designs in 90+ years of football tradition.
Without sorting through every uniform alteration and shirt/pant combination, here is the Redskins’ helmet history.
Redskins Helmet History: The Beginning
1937-1952 – Leather Helmets
When the Redskins first arrived in Washington in 1937, players weren’t wearing hard-shelled helmets, but rather leather. Did teams ever paint these leather helmets a uniform color? The fact that all the photos from this era are black and white, combined with the overall scarcity of action shots, makes this nearly impossible to determine. There is evidence of a yellow and black game-worn helmet from 1939.
1952-1954 – Gold Helmet, Burgundy Stripe
The team introduced its first hard-shelled helmets in 1952, featuring a true gold color with a burgundy stripe. 1952 was Sammy Baugh’s final season in football, and it was this helmet he wore. They used this design through 1954.
1954-1956 – Cardinal Helmet; Yellow Stripe
At some point in the 1954 season, the team switched to a cardinal helmet with a yellow stripe. It’s interesting that the team quickly abandoned this color scheme, even though it closely resembles the colors they wear today. The design lasted through 1956.
1957-1958: The Notre Dame Helmet
In 1957, the team returned to the gold helmet, but without the burgundy stripe. For better or worse, the result was a helmet identical to Notre Dame’s. The design was worn late into the 1958 season.
Redskins Helmet History: The 60’s And On
1958-1964: The Feather Helmet
At the end of the 1958 season, the team introduced the first emblem, a feather running up the back of the helmet. It lasted through 1964, but in a couple of slightly different incarnations. The helmet was initially and ultimately burgundy, yet a game-worn helmet from 1961 indicates it was once cardinal. In the 1963 and 1964, numbers were placed on the back of the helmet.
1965-1969: The Spear Helmet
In 1965, the feather was replaced with a spear, again on a burgundy helmet. Following the 1968 season, Vince Lombardi came out of retirement to run the Redskins. Lombardi’s brother-in-law worked for Rawlings, so the Redskins switched uniform providers. When the uniforms arrived, they were the wrong color – a lighter, cardinal red instead of the burgundy. Since it would have been a real hassle to order new uniforms, the helmets were painted to reflect the color change. Tragically, the color change stuck and the Redskins never returned to burgundy. You can see the difference in this picture of Sonny Jurgensen posing with replicas of every helmet he ever wore.
1970-1971: The Yellow Lombardi Helmet
Hoping to remodel the franchise in the image of his powerful Packer squads, Vince Lombardi redesigned the uniforms to match, introducing a yellow helmet. Unfortunately, Lombardi fell ill with colon cancer and passed away before the start of the 1970 season. He never got to see his creation in action.
1972: The Indian Head Helmet
In 1972, the Redskins ditched the yellow for the helmet we know today as the traditional Redskins helmet. The changes throughout the years have been minor: In 1978, the facemask was changed from gray to gold.
In 1982 (the season that yielded Super Bowl XVII), the logo featured curled feathers rather than the traditional straight feathers.
The team returned to the straight-feather look in 1983, and other than the occasional throwbacks (worn in 1994, 2002, 2007 and 2012), the helmet has since remained unchanged. It should be noted that while the 2002 and 2007 designs are true replicas of helmets from the past, the 1994 helmet was not. For the NFL’s 75th anniversary, all NFL teams wore replicas of their original uniforms. Since the 1937 Redskins didn’t have a hard-shelled helmet, the team just removed the logos from the regular helmet, making this “throwback” a unique helmet unto itself.
In this helmet, the Redskins experienced the greatest ten-year stretch in team history from 1982 to 1991. The decade produced seven playoff appearances, a .704 winning percentage and most importantly, three NFL championships, all while wearing more or less the same uniform the team sports today. And while it’s foolish to suggest that a change in the uniform will make the team better or worse, I do think there is something to be said for wearing the same uniforms that brought you your greatest spoils.
Redskins Helmet History Summary
And there you have it. Seven helmets in less than 60 years. Depending on how you want to count the leather helmets, the minor alterations and the throwbacks, the number could be as high as 20 over the team’s history.
1: Plain leather
2: Yellow leather
3: Burgundy leather
4: Gold helmet, burgundy stripe
5: Cardinal helmet, yellow stripe
6: Notre Dame helmet
7: Burgundy Feather
8: Cardinal Feather 9: Burgundy Feather, again
10: Burgundy Feather with numbers
11: Burgundy Spear
12: Red Spear
13: Lombardi Yellow
14: Indian Head, gray facemask
15: Indian Head, yellow facemask
16: Curled feathers
17: Indian Head, yellow facemask, again
18: 1994 Throwback
19: 2002 Throwback
20: 2007 Throwback
The next time you bristle at the suggestion of a uniform change, just remember that the real Redskins tradition is one of change.
Notes:
Most of the Photo Credits on this page go to Helmet Hut, who have created replicas of many of these helmets.
This blog was edited slightly in 2025, to remove dead links and to meet modern SEO practices.
The Redskins need to scrap their current uniform and use the throwbacks from the 70th anniversary year. For the helmet, they should go with the spear. Finally, the team should go back to the white shoes. If a player has to wear an ankle support, it should be white and not black.