Pittsburgh Steelers are the most prominent American football team from Pennsylvania. They are part of the NFL and other leagues, but in the former they occupy a high place within the Top-15 teams. As such, they are considered one of the strongest clubs on the American Northeast coast.

Who owns Pittsburgh Steelers? Nowadays, it’s owned by the entrepreneur family of the Rooneys. Before, it was in the ownership of several steel magnates.

History Logo

The team was created in 1933 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They were originally known as ‘Pirates’, while their current name was ultimately adopted in 1945. The name derives from the fact that many of their original sponsors were associated with the steel industry of Pittsburgh.

1933 – 1939

The team originally used the city’s coat of arms as a logo. It’s a black shield with a checkered blue-and-white stripe and three yellow circles featuring eagles in its every corner. Above was a picture of castle made in black brick.

1940 – 1942

In 1940, the team became Steelers for the first time, although not for long. This time, the logo was a shape of a football (basically an oval) colored in white and with the rich imagery in its middle section. It depicted various fragments of a steelworks, mostly colored in black and yellow after the city’s own colors.
Along the white edges, the designers wrote several inscriptions, including the club’s name above and the ‘Football Club’ writing below. Both were thin and black.

1943 – 1944

In 1943, they were renamed ‘Steagles’ as a short-lived experiment. Along with a new name, they adopted a logo: it depicted an eagle and a ball in its clutches. Both were black-and-white and had little detail.

1944 – 1945

Another short-lived period saw the name change to ‘Card-Pitt’. The only emblem they had of this period featured this very name, written in the usual college script in dark red, capital letters.

1945 – 1961

The 1945 logo looks exactly like the one they used in 1940-42.

1962 – 1968

In 1962, they switched the logo to a cartoonish depiction of a steel worker kicking a ball while standing on a metal I-beam. Most details were bright yellow, although separate elements (like the outlines, ball seams and the worker’s overalls) were black. These colors are considered traditional for the city.

1969 – 2001

By 1969, they adopted their iconic logo that featured three rhombus figures with pointed tips trapped a grey ring around them. They were colored yellow, red and blue from top to bottom respectively, but they don’t seem to hold any meaning besides some steel-related trivia. This pattern is called ‘steelmark’
The only other part is the black word ‘Steelers’, written on the left side of the white space within the ring.

2002 – today

In 2002, they made the letters in the name bolder and added a black thin outline on the edges of the grey frame.

Helmet History

Their iconic helmet design was introduced in 1968, right before the ‘steelmark’ was adopted. The main color is black, although there are also alternative yellow versions. The dominant colors are used throughout the helmet surface, with the sole exception of a single stripe that goes through the headwear’s middle.
This stripe is usually white or yellow for the black helmets or black for yellow ones. And lastly, they have long been using the ‘steelmark’ as insignia on both sides of their helmets, near the temple area.

Uniform History

The uniform design is more versatile. It was also adopted in 1968, and it mostly features the colors white, black and yellow (the colors of Pittsburgh). The most iconic, longest-lasting combination features yellow legs with black (alternatively, white) torso. Most stripes on the top are yellow, and their counterparts below are black.
The more recent attempts include white or beige pants with black jumpers, although there were also occasional golden jerseys. These, however, are mostly alternative and home uniforms. The away colors are black tops and yellow bottoms, with additional black socks and a separate system for the helmets.

Pittsburgh Steelers Colors

STEELERS GOLD
PANTONE: PMS 1235 C
HEX COLOR: #FFB612
RGB: (255, 182, 18)
CMYK: (0, 30, 75, 0)

BLACK
HEX COLOR: #101820;
RGB: (16, 24, 32)
CMYK: (100, 40, 0, 100)
PANTONE: PMS BLACK 6 C

BLUE
PANTONE: PMS 287 C
HEX COLOR: #003087;
RGB: (0, 48, 135)
CMYK: (100, 75, 2, 18)

RED
PANTONE: PMS 186 C
HEX COLOR: #C60C30;
RGB: (198, 12, 48)
CMYK: (10, 100, 100, 0)

SILVER
PANTONE: PMS 429 C
HEX COLOR: #A5ACAF;
RGB: (165, 172, 175)
CMYK: (0, 0, 0, 20)