What if the Cardinals added yellow to their team colors?

The Arizona Cardinals began during the early years of the game of American Football, which was coming into existence. This new sport sprang up from the sport of rugby. And rugby came from soccer, which is officially called “football” on a global scale.

Teams back then didn’t have home and away jerseys. They owned one set that followed the origins of baseball. In those days, baseball teams all had basically the same uniforms, so they had different colored socks. That is why the “Cincinnati Red Stockings” (Reds), “Chicago White Stockings” (White Sox), and “Boston Red Stockings” (Red Sox) still have this history to their franchise team names.

RELATED: CARDINALS ALMOST RELOCATED TO EVANSTON, ILLINOIS?

Stockings were used instead of traditional socks because they could travel from the cleat/shoes all the way to just below the knee. This long area covered the entire shin and gave a good glimpse of the color.

Almost every professional sports team has made some sort of change, whether that’s in a team name, colors, team logos, uniforms, city, stadium, owners, or franchise letter font.

The “New York Jets” began as “The Titans of New York,” which sported uniforms of blue and yellow with a speck of white. When the Titans became the Jets, the colors changed to green and white. In 1990, the Jets added black as an accent shade, and then in 2019, black became a featured color. They moved from the Polo Grounds to Shea Stadium to Giants Stadium in New Jersey for home games. So, they changed their team’s name, colors, owner, lettering, logos, and even moved out of the State of New York.

Since the Cardinals began back in the day, their uniform has consisted of a lot of black and brown pieces when they entered the “American Professional Football Association” (APRA) in the maiden season of 1920. The APRA was renamed the National Football League (NFL) two years later.

The Cardinals were named the “Racine Cardinals” as a charter member because they played their home games on Racine Street in the South Side of Chicago. In 1922, the team became the “Chicago Cardinals” because another club labeled the “Racine Legion” joined the NFL. This club was headquartered in Racine, Wisconsin. To avoid confusion, the Cardinals took on the Chicago description.

The Racine Cardinals were dark red and tan, with a hint of white. They kept these colors until 1931. In 1932, the franchise was bought by Charlie “Blue shirt” Bidwill from Dr. David Jones. The team added blue jerseys but kept the dark red socks. These blue jerseys were only worn for two games, as both teams also had red uniforms.

Except for 1937 and 1949, the team had a blue set of jerseys all the way through 1955. In 1956, the blue version was gone. Players wore either red or white helmets all the way through the 1958 season, and from then on, white was the only hat utilized until a black helmet was available beginning in 2022. A sand helmet was used during the 2025 season.

The official team colors are cardinal red (Pantone 194 CP), white, process black (Pantone Process Black C), and silver, which are listed, although it’s grayer. On the official website, it is named “Grey” with the exact tint as “Pantone: 3-C.”

Pantone.com describes this color as “cool gray.” So, the gray spelling is listed differently, plus the exact color. Gray is not silver. Pantone lists eight shades of black.

If you are a woman or a girl dad, you know there are at least 12 shades of black. Just sayin’.

The origins of the team’s red color came in 1901 when the team’s owner, Chris O’Brien, purchased used uniforms of the University of Chicago, whose team name was “the Maroons.” O’Brien famously declared the secondhand uniforms were not maroon, but “cardinal red” because of the fading.

Sunlight fades any red or purple version earlier than any other colors. So, the uniforms in new condition were maroon, and now the washed-out version with mended rips, tears, and holes repaired in all their glory were faded maroon.

The color black has always been used in the cardinal head logo and was the only place it was shown or used. But in 1964, the white jerseys displayed a thin black stripe on the sleeves as this combination: thin black, thin white, large red, thin white, thin black, thin white, large red, thin white, thin black. There were two sets of pants, both white. One had two thin red stripes for the red jerseys, and with the white jerseys, it was a larger red stripe sandwiched by two thin white stripes, then two outer black stripes to match one-half of the sleeve striping. By 1967, the white pants with the red/white/black combination were worn with every uniform.

This striping was a St. Louis Cardinals mainstay.  

In the preseasons of 1974, 1975, and 1978, the home and away jersey numbers were outlined in black and then became a standard on the white jerseys only. In 1988, a black belt was offered during the franchise’s first season in Phoenix.

But in 2005, black appeared as an accent color in these specific areas: 1) numeral outlines on front, back and TV digits, 2) a thin line coming from the jersey sides and going up to the solid red shoulder pad areas on both the front and back of the jerseys, 3) a thin stripe to outline the jersey collar, plus 4), as an outline with the pants striping.

In 2010, the first solid black jersey was introduced with solid black socks. For the 2017 season, black pants with minimal red striping and solid black socks were combined with a new black jersey version with red numerals instead of white. With the 2022 season, a black helmet arrived.  

Now, the team was officially cardinal red, white, and black.

Going into the 1960s, many pro football clubs were now adding logos to helmets after the Los Angeles Rams began this tradition in 1948 with hand-painted ram horns. For the 1960 season, the Cardinals added a cardinal bird head, outlined in black with black interior features, and a solid yellow beak.

This was the first time that yellow appeared on a Cardinals uniform.

The 1984 uniform featured a 25th Anniversary patch, which had the standard cardinal head logo with the yellow beak, so yellow was seen in just one spot on the uniform and two places on the helmets.

In 1989, the team’s second season in the desert, the “Phoenix Cardinals” had the state flag on the sleeve of just the white jersey. Which, of course, comprised red, white, blue, and yellow. The flag in this size continued until the 1995 season. Plus, along with another cardinal bird head logo was situated right above the flag. This meant on every white uniform, six areas displayed yellow. This uniform continued until 1995.

The Cardinals again changed their name, this time to the “Arizona Cardinals” in 1994.  

Beginning in 1996 until 2004, the flag on the sleeves was reduced in size, and the cardinal head logo disappeared from the sleeves but remained on each side of the helmets. This style was used for the white jersey only.

The 1998 uniform featured a “100th Anniversary” patch, which had the standard cardinal head logo, plus a full cardinal bird, which also had a solid yellow beak. Which means this special white uniform had six spots with yellow, while the red jersey version had four.    

The 2005 white jersey began a new trend and continued until 2022. The cardinal head logo was removed from the sleeves, and a mini cardinal head logo was inserted above the player’s nameplate. So, every white jersey used yellow in three places, while the red version had just the two on the helmet sides.

In 2006, both white and red jerseys sported a patch that stated, “Inaugural Season – 2006 Cardinals Stadium. The upper wording was black lettering on a solid yellow background.

With the 2012 red and white jerseys, a Hall of Fame patch was worn that had a solid goldish yellow wide stripe around the entire logo.

Starting in 2023, the white version still has the standard cardinal bird logo above the player nameplate, but the red and black jerseys are replaced with either a white or red cardinal head logo. 

The 2025 “Rivalries Sand Uniform” has the return of the Arizona state flag on the sleeves, while the cardinal bird head uses orange instead of yellow.

Since 1960, yellow has been on every Cardinals uniform in one form or another.   

The color gray first appeared in 1936. Solid gray pants were worn for home and away combinations. No other pants color was used this year. The Cardinals featured red and blue uniforms, but no white jerseys. Red socks with several white stripes were featured with both unies.

And then, poof! The gray pants were gone. The striped socks returned, but it was the only season the Cardinals wore solid gray pants. The year before, in 1935, it was tan pants, which were the manufacturer’s color choice for leather pants and worn by every team.

Beginning in 2023, the Cardinals’ white jersey has a solid gray stripe with the words “Cardinals” inside the stripe located on the sleeve. It is encased by two white stripes, which are actually portions of the uniform, and then two thin red stripes. The black jersey has the same design on the sleeves with the thick gray stripe. The red jersey is devoid of this. It’s the same uniform in 2024 and 2025, and presumed that the 2026 version is also identical.

Both the black and white pants have a larger gray stripe in between the pants’ colors and encased with two red outer stripes. Again, the red pants are devoid of any striping.

Every five years, teams can rework new designs. This was that year.

Except for the standard manufacturer’s gray facemask, that is all the gray that the Cardinals have ever used.

One year for pants, and going into the fourth year of a solid gray stripe on jersey sleeves, plus down the pants leg on two of three uniform sets.

The question has to be: Why is gray considered a team color?

Why isn’t yellow?

Watching this year’s World Cup, when Brazil was playing, the stadium stands were a sea of yellow shirts and jerseys. Nobody could ignore their fans.  

Yellow is considered a safety color. That is why the U.S. Transportation Department made yellow their warning street signs for curves ahead, construction work, dead ends, merge lanes, railroad and deer crossings, and speed bumps. It is why school buses are yellow, because it is seen from a long distance. Yellow and black are considered the two most contrasting colors. Of course, red is used for safety as well, with fire and law enforcement, stop signs, traffic, and tail lights, and full attention.

In the NFL, yellow is used by the Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, Los Angeles Rams, Washington Commanders, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Los Angeles Chargers. So, it’s not an overused color.

Think about this combo: Red, black, and yellow. The premise is to use red and black as the primary colors (with the largest amount of red), with a representation of yellow included, and white as an accent on the red and black uniforms.

No team in the league has this color combination. It would bring a dull and lifeless combination and make it pop. It’s not Arena League, as red and black are the main colors. The yellow complements both.

As a Cardinals fan, you may make a statement about tradition, an institution, and simplicity. Well, the franchise that has had traditional red and white uniforms since 1937 has won a grand total of two championship banners. And one of those two was actually won by another team and then forwarded to the Cardinals.

Maybe something different is in store. The color yellow has been there all this time. Give it a microphone and let’s hear it sing.  

Countries that use this color combination are Germany, Belgium, Angola, East Timor, and Uganda.

The evidence is that the franchise has already been using yellow for 66 years. In some seasons, the team has six yellow places on each uniform. Others, just four. If we did the research, it would divulge hundreds of cases of using yellow since 1960.

All that would happen is that the color would be named an official color. Then, use it.