Logos and Uniforms of the New York Giants
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For the main article about the NFL team, go to New York Giants
The New York Giants have had numerous uniforms and logos since their founding in 1925.
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[edit] Logos
Giants logos have centered around three distinct concepts: a "giant" football player poised to throw a pass, the word "Giants" and variations on the initials for New York. The "ny", "NY", and GIANTS logos have been featured on the team's uniforms over the past 46 years, though currently the original or current "GIANTS" script logo does not appear on the team's uniforms.
[edit] "ny" and GIANTS Script
Prior to the 1961 campaign, the Giants official logo was the "giant quarterback" logo. Starting in 1961, a stylized white lowercase "ny" was added to both sides of the team's helmet. This logo survived until 1975, when a stylized white and blue uppercase "NY" replaced it. The uppercase NY was itself replaced a season later by the team nickname written out in bold italicized white capital letters (GIANTS). This change was sparked by the team moving its operations to the Meadowlands in New Jersey.
In the 2000 season, an updated blue and red "ny" returned as the primary logo (depicted as white when placed on the team's helmets), relegating GIANTS to a secondary role as the team's script logo. Controvery surrounded the change because the team remained in New Jersey. Owner Wellington Mara remarked "We are not attempting to make a political statement. Many people have remarked over the years that the "ny" logo is the greatest logo not being used. We happen to agree. We represent, and always have, the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area. We did when we played at the Polo Grounds, Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium and the Yale Bowl, and we have since we moved to New Jersey. We are proud to represent this region, and we're proud of our heritage."[1]
In 2004, GIANTS was retired in favor of a new script, "GIANTS" in white block letters above a graphic containing the "ny" logo in a circle: this script logo contains all four team colors, blue, red, white and gray. Curiously, GIANTS survives in the Giants Stadium logo depicted on the Meadowlands in the current Giants quarterback logo.
[edit] The Giant Quarterback
The "giant quarterback" logo is illustrative of the evolution of both the Giants and the sport that they play. Initially, the giant quarterback towers above the New York City skyline, then Yankee Stadium (the team's home from 1956-1973), and finally the Meadowlands. Previous to his current incarnation, the giant quarterback executes a "stiff-arm" as part of his wind-up: the current giant quarterback prepares to throw as most professional quarterbacks do, making light of the unlikely occurrence of a quarterback stiff-arming a 300-pound defensive tackle before passing.
[edit] Uniforms
Since at least the early 1950's, the Giants have worn predominantly blue helmets, royal blue or red home jerseys, and white road jerseys accented by blue, red, or a combination of both. Their uniform pants (with the exception of a blue road version in the late '70s) have alternated between white or gray with various combinations of blue and red striping. Currently, the team wears uniforms that are based on Giants designs of the late '50s and early '60s: blue helmets and jerseys with gray pants and blue socks at home, and blue helmets, white jerseys with gray pants and red socks on the road.
[edit] Giants Uniforms, 1950-1960
Current Giants fans might be surprised to learn that prior to 1953, "Big Blue" wore red jerseys for some home games. Through 1953, the typical Giants home uniform consisted of solid red or blue jerseys with white block numbers, blue helmets, white pants with red socks, and black cleats. The standard road uniform used the same helmet, a white jersey with red block numbers and red Northwestern stripes on the sleeves (the Northwestern stripe pattern, named after the college that is believed to have originated it, is composed of three parallel horizontal stripes, with the central stripe approximately double the thickness of the other two[2]), white pants with red socks, and black cleats.
The 1954 saw two major changes: blue as the standard home jersey and new road pants. Due to a push by the NFL for franchises to settle on a single color for jerseys, the Giants replaced red with blue as the sole jersey color for home games. [3] Red would not be featured as a primary home jersey color until the design was resurrected in the 2004 season as the Giants' official "alternate" jersey. Second, the road uniform switched white pants for gray ones with a non-contiguous tri-stripe design (red/blue/red) on the sides of the legs.
In 1955, the red socks were replaced by blue ones for home games.
This template survived until 1958, when the striping on the road pants inexplicably disappeared. In truth, the stripes had merely taken a short vacation, as they returned in 1960 on both the home and road pants. That same year, an integrated khaki belt was introduced to the pants, but the belt lasted a single season.
It is important to note that uniforms in the NFL at this time were nowhere nearly as standardized as they are today, so the "template" for Giants uniforms during this period was subject to variations that would be considered major today, such as the aforementioned switching of red and blue jerseys at home. Most notably, players from this period were photographed wearing either leather helmets dyed blue without a central red stripe, or with blue plastic helmets featuring the signature red stripe and tethered to the players' heads with a leather chin strap.
[edit] Giants Uniforms, 1961-1974
1961 heralded a new era for the team's uniforms, as the club debuted a white lower-case "ny" logo on the sides of the previously solid blue helmet. The helmet retained its single front-to-back red stripe and added a gray facemask. For home games, the Giants wore a solid royal blue jersey with solid white block numbers without trim, gray pants with a black belt and thin red/blue/red triple stripes on the sides, solid blue socks and black cleats. For away games, they wore a solid white jersey with solid red block numbers without trim and triple red stripe just above the hem of the sleeves. The away uniform's pants were the same as those worn at home, but the socks were solid red.
The basic template for the 1961 home and away uniforms would undergo minor changes over the next 13 years:
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- 1962: The pants striping was changed from three non-contiguous thin stripes to three contiguous thicker stripes, still colored red/blue/red.
- 1964: The away jersey lost its Northwestern sleeve stripes.
- 1967: The pants striping became blue/red/blue, away socks changed from red to blue/red/blue striped, the away block numbers became blue, and stripes returned to the away jersey sleeves with a thin blue/red/blue pattern, albeit now bordering the hem in a different layout than the sleeve stripes last seen in 1964.
1968 marked the first major change for the uniform, as the gray pants were abandoned in favor of white ones. Additionally, the striped away socks became solid blue, matching the home versions.
In 1969, the Giants along with the other teams in the NFL wore a special commemorative patch to honor the league's 50th regular season.
[edit] Giants Uniforms, 1975-1979
1975 would see unquestionably the most radical re-design of a Giants uniform in the second half of the 20th century. The 1974 descendant of the 1961 uniform was shelved in favor of a design that emphasized striping and the accent color white. Almost everything in both home and road uniforms changed, from the helmet down to the cleats.
The helmet's red stripe was now flanked by two thin white stripes, and a white facemask replaced the traditional gray one. The home blue jersey gained red trim around its block numbers, and red/white/red/white/red stripes on its sleeves. The white pants introduced a blue belt and a new side stripe pattern (thin red/thick blue/thin red). The socks, while still blue at the edges, mirrored the sleeve stripe pattern down the center portion of the sock.
The away uniform had the same template as the home version with most colors swapped: the jersey was white with blue numbers trimmed in red, the sleeves had red/blue/red/blue/red stripes, the pants were blue (with a blue belt) with a thin red/thick white/thin red side stripe. White socks with the away jersey shoulder stripe pattern were used. Finally, amidst the wide-reaching changes, the team's cleats became white.
Perhaps even more radical than the uniform redesign was the team's swtich from the classic lowercase "ny" logo to an uppercase "NY" as its primary logo. Echoing the 1975 uniform's affinity for stripes, the logo pattern itself is composed of stripes.
One year later, a new logo was introduced and the uppercase "NY" disappeared: an italicized and underlined GIANTS became the team's primary logo and took up residence on the sides of the helmet. The abrupt change was prompted by the franchise's move from New York to East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The blue away pants would survive four seasons, lasting until the end of the 1978 season. In 1979, the away uniforms used the same white pants as the home uniforms while keeping the same blue belt and away socks.
[edit] Giants Uniforms, 1980-1999
The design experimentation begun in 1975 did not last into the new decade. The 1980 season witnessed a serious re-design of the uniforms and a general abandonment of the excess of striping: the new uniforms combined elements of several past uniforms from the 60's and mid-70's and would be the uniforms worn by the team in their victories in Super Bowls XXI and XXV.
The white stripes on the helmet disappeared, and the sleeve stripes were replaced with a more conservative red-white-red thin striped pattern for the home jerseys and a blue-red-blue version for the white away jerseys previously worn in 1974. A similar matching thin-striped pattern was added around the collar for both jerseys. The pants lost the blue belts (replaced with white ones) and the side stripes returned to the blue-red-blue contiguous stripes of equal thickness last seen in 1967. The socks returned to their 1974 solid-blue standard for home and away versions.
Not all the 1975 elements were discarded: the redesign did retain the 1975 trim around the block numbers, and the facemask and cleats remained white.
This template would be largely untouched over the next 19 seasons. In 1982, the collar striping became "pointed" at the base of the neck to form a "V", and in 1985 the block number font was altered to have a slightly more robust appearance. In 1991, the Giants and all other franchises added the NFL shield below the "V" on the jersey collar and to the upper left thigh of the pants.
[edit] 1994: NFL's 75th Anniversary Throwbacks
In order to celebrate 75 years of the NFL, during the 1994 season NFL teams were allowed to play a number of games in throwback uniforms. The Giants chose their 1956 home and away templates for the basis of their throwback designs. The resulting uniforms closely matched the '56 designs, with some minor inconsistencies: both home and road unis featured white cleats and white belts instead of the black cleats and no belts (the pants were held together with drawstrings) worn during that season. Additionally, the gray road pants had a metallic look to them (similar in appearance to the Cowboys' silver pants), contrasting with the flat gray of the past.
Furthermore, the "ny" logo was placed on the helmets, predating its debut on Giants headgear in 1961. The throwbacks appeared in a contest at home against the Redskins and in a road game against the Eagles, and appeared again during the last six weeks of that season after the Giants began wearing them in a Week 12 Monday night game against Houston, and won every game while wearing them.
[edit] Giants Uniforms, 2000-2004
For the 2000 season, the team introduced new designs for both home and away uniforms. While the home version was modeled on its predecessor from the early '60s, the away design combined elements of the previous four decades of Giants away uniforms.
The home design had several subtle differences over its early '60s forerunners:
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- The royal blue in the home jersey was darkened slightly to a shade known as dark royal blue
- The helmet closely matched its precursor (down to the front-mounted player block numbers on either side of the central red stripe), but added a metallic appearance. Furthermore, the "ny" on the helmets was more rounded and vertically elongated
- The "TV numbers" featured on the sides of the jersey's sleeves migrated to the top of the shoulders
- As with the 1994 throwbacks, the black belts and cleats did not return, replaced instead by a gray belt and white cleats
- A red triangle containing the NFL shield was placed at the tip of the collar's "V".
The white road jersey had less to do with the 60's variants and more with the 80's and 90's designs, keeping red colored trim around the jersey's blue block numbers, a solid blue collar, thin blue/red/blue striping near the hem of the sleeves, and player names appeared in blue.
Both home and away desgins featured gray pants with gray belts, with the pant legs adorned with a single thick red stripe directly bordered by two blue stripes of equal thickness.
Finally, blue socks accompanied the home uniforms and red socks returned for the away uniforms. For the 2002 season, the away socks again became blue and would remain that way until the end of the 2004 season.
[edit] The Alternate Home Jersey
In Week 12 of the 2004 season, the team introduced an alternate solid red jersey in a game against the Philadelphia Eagles. This variant simply swapped the blue of the regular home jersey for red and retained the same design; home pants and blue socks were worn with the jersey.
[edit] Giants Uniforms, 2005 -
In 2005, the Giants unveiled road uniforms that are close replicas of the ones worn by the 1956 Giants Championship team, save for small details such as the helmet's metallic look, the addition of belts and different block number locations.
A subtle alteration in 2005 affected both the home and away uniforms: the GIANTS logo below the neck of the jersey was replaced with the "ny" logo (white on the home and home alternate jersey and red one for away). As previously noted, this ended a 29-year run of the GIANTS appearing on the team's uniforms in some capacity.
2005 also marked the switch from white to black cleats (a change not reflected in the official uniform templates pictured below), ending 30 seasons of white footgear for the team.
[edit] 2006: The Alternate Jersey Returns
For week 15 of the 2006 season, the Giants wore their alternate jersey during a home game versus their NFC East rivals the Dallas Cowboys. Contrasting with the official template (right), the Giants wore their away pants with the red jerseys despite being at home. This appearance marks only the second time the Giants have worn the red alternate jersey, and the first time the alternate jersey has been paired with their current away pants and red socks.
[edit] Gallery of Logos and Uniforms
 Giants primary logo (1950-1955) [1] |
 Giants primary logo (1956-1960) [2] |
 Giants primary logo (1961-1974) [3] |
 Giants primary logo (1975) [4] |
 Giants primary logo (1976-1999), script logo 2000-2004 [5] |
 Giants primary logo (2000-current) [6] |
 Giants alternate logo 1961-1972. [7] |
 Giants secondary logo (1976-1999) [8] |
 Giants secondary logo 2000-current [9] |
 Giants script 1976-2004 |
 Giants helmet 1976-1979 [10] |
 Giants helmet 1980-1999 [11] |
 Giants helmet (2000-current) [12] |
 Giants home uniform (2005-current) [13] |
 Giants road uniform (2005-current) [14] |
[edit] References
- ^ Giants unveil new uniform with a traditional touch. Retrieved on 6 February 2006.
- ^ New Road Uniforms for the 2005 season.
- ^ Giants to wear red jerseys today.
