Ivy League

BROWN COLUMBIA CORNELL
"Bears" "Lions" "Big Red"
Providence, RI New York, NY Ithaca, NY
DARTMOUTH HARVARD PENN
"Big Green" "Crimson" "Quakers"
Hanover, NH Cambridge, MA Philadelphia, PA
PRINCETON YALE
"Tigers" "Bulldogs"
Princeton, NJ New Haven, CT

Historical Helmets

BROWN

1960? - 1966 1967 - 1971 1972
*see note 1 below
1973 - 1977 1978 1979
1980 1981 - 1983 1984 - 1989
1990 1991 - 1993 1994 - 1996
'B'
2001 - 2003 1997 - 2000; 2004 - 2008 2016 -
'A' 'C' 'D'
2009 - 2021 2022 - 2022 -
*see note 2 below

During recent years Brown has used the following sequences of helmet designs:

I believe that the above are the complete set of historical helmet designs for Brown for the period covered by this web site (1960 to present).

*1 It was reported to me earlier that the numerals on this helmet were apparently worn only on the left sides, with the right sides "blank", but I have received photographs from the 1962 game at Harvard that show Brown using numerals on both sides of the helmet. It was also reported previously that this design was in use in 1959, also, but a clear photograph from the 1959 Harvard at Brown game show no numerals on either side of the visible Brown helmets (though the two white stripes are present). The style of numerals may also have varied during the years when this design was in use - I have one rather blurry photograph that appears to show "block" numerals, as opposed to the more "rounded" style as depicted on this helmet image.

*2 The 'B' logo is worn on the left side only of this design; a 'bear head' logo is present on the right side (as depicted below).

COLUMBIA

? - 1970 1977 1971 - 1976;
1978 - 1979
1980 - 1981 1981 1982
*see note 1 below
1983 1984 1985 - 1986
1987 - 1997 1998 - 2002 October 18, 2003
2003 - 2005 2006 2007 - 2012
2013 2014 2015 - 2019
'A' 'B' (and 'B1') 'C'
2021 2021 2022 -
*see note 2 below *see note 3 below
'D'
2022 -
*see note 4 below

In 2022 Columbia used two of the above helmet designs in the following sequence: C-D-C; D-D-D; C-C-D; C.

In 2021 Columbia used: A-A-A; A-B-B1; B1-B1-B1; B1.

Through most of the 1960s Columbia used white helmets with a single light blue stripe, and with uniform numbers on the sides of the helmet in some dark color (probably black or blue). The side numbers were discarded by at least 1970, though during at least some games in 1970, the team wore numbers at the front of the helmet.

*1 In 1981 this design was worn only during the first game of the season (vs Penn); the lion decals were added the following week and used for the remainder of the season.

*2 Design 'B' has uniform numbers on both the left and right sides; 'B1' has the numbers on the left side only, while the right side has the lion logo worn on both sides of 'A'.

*3 Uniform numbers are worn on the left side only of this design; a "C" logo is worn on the right (as depicted below).

*4 Uniform numbers are worn on the left side only of this design; the right side has the lion logo worn on both sides of 'A'.

CORNELL

? - 1966 1967 - 1975 1976
1977 1978 - 1982 1999 - 2001
1983 - 1998; 2002 - 2007 September 20, 2008 2008 - 2009
2010 - 2016 2017 2018
2019 - November 19, 2022

DARTMOUTH

1965 - 1982 1987 - 1998 1983 - 1986;
1999 - 2005
'A' 'B' 'C'
2006 - 2014 - 2017 2015 - 2017
'D'
2021 -

During recent years Dartmouth has used the following sequences of helmet designs:

During the early 1960s Dartmouth used white helmet shells with three stripes (green/white/green) and with uniform numbers of some unknown color (probably green or black) on the sides of the helmets.

HARVARD

c.1950s - 1960 1961 - 1963 1964 - 1971
1972 - 1973 1974 1975 - 1979
*see note 1 below *see note 2 below
1980 - 1993 1994 - 2003 2004 - 2011 -
2012 - 2014 2015 - 2019 2021 -

*1 The text surrounding the "H" on the decal on this helmet reads: "1874-1974 THE REAL FOOTBALL CENTENNIAL"; this is in reference to a claim by Harvard to have participated in the first "real college football game" in 1874 (vs McGill, a Canadian college). The 1974 logo was apparently actually worn only on the right sides of the helmets, with the left sides left "blank".

*2 In 1975 and 1976 this logo was only (or usually) worn on the right side of each helmet, with the left side remaining "blank"; it was used on both sides of most helmets beginning in 1977. During at least some of the years (1975 - 1979) when this design was in use an alternate version of the logo - without the white outline around the black oval-shape - was also in use. A couple of former players for Ivy League teams have reported that these decals were used simultaneously by various Harvard players, without regard to a uniform appearance for the team. It is unclear whether the "non-outlined" version was ever the more predominant one, though one person has reported that this was apparently the case in 1977. The thickness of the white outline may have also varied during the 1975 - 1979 period.

PENN

? - 1961 c.1963 1965 - 1970
1971 - 1978 1979 - 1980 1981 - 1991
September 19, 1992 1992 - 2003 2003
'A'
2004 - 2006 2007 - 2017 2018 -
'B' 'C' 'D'
2018 2019 2021 -

During recent years Penn used the following sequences of helmet designs:

I received an unverified report indicating that Penn used a special helmet decal in 1976 commemorating the centennial of football at the school - the alleged decal featured the numbers "1876 - 1976" inside a football-shape. I would appreciate photographs of any such helmet.

PRINCETON

c.1950s? - 1968 1969 1970 - 1972
*see note 1 below
1974 1975 - 1977 1978
1979 - 1980 1981 - 1983 1984 - 1997
1998 - 2011 2012 -
*see note 2 below *see note 2 below

*1 This design was in use by at least 1961, and probably much earlier. The 1969 helmet was similar to this one, but a special decal was worn on the sides - a football-shape containing the numerals "100", in recognition of the centennial of the first college football game, played between Princeton and Rutgers on November 6, 1869. I would appreciate a color photograph of the 1969 Princeton helmet.

*2 The current Princeton helmet design (and its predecessor) is based upon a design which originated at Princeton but is most often associated with its 60-plus year run at Michigan. Princeton Coach "Fritz" Crisler is credited with designing the "winged" helmet in 1935 with the intention of helping his quarterbacks detect their receivers downfield; most teams' helmets were bland and indistinguishable at that time, and Crisler's design was one of the first to bear some distinction. The triangular shapes are said to represent the folded-back ears of a tiger, while the three stripes imitate those on the animal's body. Although these features are purely ornamental on modern helmets, they coincided with physical features of the helmet during the 1930s. Crisler took the design with him to Michigan in 1938, and, as I understand it, Princeton ceased to use it at that same time. The design was resurrected in modern form for the 1998 season at Princeton.

YALE

1964 c.late 1950s - 1963; 1965 1972
*see note 1 below *see note 2 below
1973 1978 1966 - 1968; 1970 - 1971;
1974 - 1977; 1979
*see note 2 below
1997 - 2011 1980 - 1996; 2012 - October 8, 2022

In 1969 Yale used a version of the college football centennial "100" decal which many teams used that year. Yale's version was worn at the front of the helmet, rather than on the sides. I have not received any color photographs of this helmet to reveal the colors as used on Yale's football helmets.

*1 In 1962 only additional stripes were added to some players' helmets (or perhaps to all of them); the stripes were worn on either side of the middle blue stripe, and were colored according to each player's role on the team: green for the offensive unit, red for the defense, and yellow for "all-purpose" players. A Yale game program from this era lists a set of nicknames for these three units: "Commandos", "Apaches", and "Bulldogs", respectively.

*2 The "100" decal worn in 1972 recognized the centennial of football at Yale; it was replaced with a "101" the following year.