How the Detroit Lions got their iconic Honolulu Blue uniforms
The Lions have worn Honolulu Blue for nearly their entire 89-year existence in the Motor City. Detroit has rocked with the ocean-blue jerseys with a silver helmet and silver pants for nine decades straight.
In recent decades as the NFL has implemented more alternate uniforms, the Lions have mixed in other looks like their all-black and steel gray uniforms, but have never strayed from including their blue in some way. The implementation of alternate helmets across the league the past two years also allowed the Lions to break out a Honolulu Blue lid — with the team’s old logo from 1946-69 — vs. the Las Vegas Raiders on Oct. 30.
Former team owner G.A. Richards moved the Portsmouth Spartans to Detroit in 1934, along with a large group of Detroit businessmen, renaming the team the Lions. According to Pro Football Hall of Fame senior advisor Joe Horrigan, Richards asked halfback Glenn Presnell, who led the league in scoring in 1933, and his wife for help selecting the new uniforms to match the new city.
“Richards had Glenn and his wife over to his house for dinner — he was kind of a celebrity player at the time,” Horrigan told the Free Press in early November. “He asked (Presnell) and his wife which uniforms they liked and Glenn said his wife went right to the blue and silver and they just kind of went along with it.”
The particular shade of blue presented to the Presnells was a shade of blue created by Richards, who wanted the perfect tone to match the selected silver pants. In Mike Murray’s 1993 book, “Lions Pride: 60 years of Detroit Lions Football,” the Lions new vice president and general manager Cy Huston said blue was the only possible option considered as a match.
Huston also set out to select uniforms with blue in them,” the book excerpt says. “‘They had me looking at so many blues I’m blue in the face,’ he said. ‘But anyway, it’s the kind of blue, I am told, that will match with silver.’
“The Lions (so-named in keeping with the jungle cat image of the city’s baseball team, the Tigers) also got a refurbished team bus, painted silver and blue, and used it to travel to their games — and to practices at Chandler Park on the east side during the season.”
The look was so popular that a new AFL team, the Buffalo Bills, more or less copied the Lions for their first uniforms in 1960. The Bills’ first uniforms were blue with a silver helmet thanks to a coach and owner with Detroit roots.
“It really came from Buster Ramsey, the Bills’ first coach who coached in Detroit, and Ralph Wilson who was a minority owner of the Lions,” Horrigan said. “They borrowed the Lions’ look when they had their first uniforms.”
What is Honolulu Blue?
In a 1950 media guide, the uniforms are described in great detail down to every stitch, and included some of the first details about the NFL trying to improve helmets for player safety.
“The Blue jersey is of nylon durene with 10-inch Silver numerals on the back, 8-inch on the front. The Silver pant is of nylon combat in front, and two-way stretch of lastex and rayon in the back. The plastic helmet has an innersuspension providing safety comparable to the service crash helmet.”
In scientific color terms, Honolulu Blue is classified as a medium-dark shade of cyan blue. It falls in the spectrum between royal and light blues and navy and steel blues.
On the uniforms, the blue shines in the light offset against the white and silver accents. The Lions traditionally wear the blue jerseys at home, wearing white jerseys and pants with blue lettering on the road. They previously wore silver pants with the white jersey.
Detroit Lions uniform evolution
The Lions have not strayed far from the original design chosen by the Presnells, outside of one major change in the post-World War 2 era.
Alvin “Bo” McMillin was hired away from Indiana University to be the Lions’ coach in 1948, and he brought along the Hoosiers’ iconic red-and-white uniforms. The Lions wore the red jerseys, white pants and leather helmets until 1950, when he left to coach the Eagles. He also implemented an all-black jersey for “must-win” games, but the tradition didn’t stick after a blowout loss to the Chicago Cardinals in the first season.
Alvin “Bo” McMillin was hired away from Indiana University to be the Lions’ coach in 1948, and he brought along the Hoosiers’ iconic red-and-white uniforms. The Lions wore the red jerseys, white pants and leather helmets until 1950, when he left to coach the Eagles. He also implemented an all-black jersey for “must-win” games, but the tradition didn’t stick after a blowout loss to the Chicago Cardinals in the first season.
Alvin “Bo” McMillin was hired away from Indiana University to be the Lions’ coach in 1948, and he brought along the Hoosiers’ iconic red-and-white uniforms. The Lions wore the red jerseys, white pants and leather helmets until 1950, when he left to coach the Eagles. He also implemented an all-black jersey for “must-win” games, but the tradition didn’t stick after a blowout loss to the Chicago Cardinals in the first season.
Over the next 40 years, the uniforms remained largely untouched outside of a few tweaks to the trim and facemask and added blue pants in addition to silver for road games. In 2004, Detroit tweaked the logo and uniform to include black, and introduced an all-black alternate that was used until 2007. The Lions removed black trim after the 2016 season.
The latest change was the all-gray Color Rush uniforms introduced in 2017 and the Honolulu Blue helmet introduced this year. Lions team president Rod Wood told the Free Press earlier in February, however, the Lions Detroit will experiment with a uniform change after the 2023 season, saying a team has been “working with Nike, looking at uniforms that will probably be for 2024. It could be an interesting overhaul of the uniforms.”
