Pittsburgh Steelers logo history
The Pittsburgh Steelers logo is based on the steel industry’s Steelmark. The team adopted it on its helmets in 1962 and later added “ers” to the original Steel wording. The current mark places Steelers beside three colored four-pointed shapes inside a silver-edged circle.
Current Pittsburgh Steelers logo vs. the old logo
New
Old
The classic Steelers artwork shows a smiling steelworker balancing on a steel beam and kicking a football. Known as the “Man on the Beam,” the logo gained a public profile in the late 1950s and was selected for the NFL’s throwback merchandise program in 1998. His hard hat, work clothes and the beam connect the illustration to Pittsburgh’s steel industry. The current circular logo carries that connection through the Steelmark’s three colored shapes.
What do the Steelers logo’s three colors mean?
The shapes are hypocycloids. In the steel industry explanation, yellow represents coal, orange-red represents iron ore and blue represents steel scrap, materials used to make steel. The logo’s colors therefore serve a different purpose from the team’s black-and-gold uniform palette.
When did the Pittsburgh Steelers start playing?
Art Rooney founded the franchise in 1933 as the Pittsburgh Pirates; it became the Steelers in 1940. The Steelmark arrived in 1962, before the four Super Bowl championships of the 1970s. The team famously wears the logo on only the right side of its helmets.
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