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The Steelers logo is based
on the Steelmark logo belonging to the American Iron and Steel Institute
(AISI). Created by U.S. Steel Corp. (now known as USX Corp.), the logo
contains three hypocycloids (diamond shapes).
In the 1950s, when helmet
logos became popular, the Steelers added players' numbers to either side
of their gold helmets. Later that decade, the numbers were removed and in
1962, Cleveland's Republic Steel suggested to the Steelers that they use
the Steelmark as a helmet logo.
When the Steelmark logo was
created, U.S. Steel attached the following meaning to it: Steel lightens
your work, brightens your leisure and widens your world. The logo was used
as part of a major marketing campaign to educate consumers about how
important steel is in our daily lives. The Steelmark logo was used in
print, radio and television ads as well as on labels for all steel
products, from steel tanks to tricycles to filing cabinets.
In the 1960s, U.S. Steel
turned over the Steelmark program to the AISI, where it came to represent
the steel industry as a whole. During the 1970s, the logo's meaning was
extended to include the three materials used to produce steel: yellow for
coal, orange for ore and blue for steel scrap. In the late 1980s, when the
AISI founded the Steel Recycling Institute (SRI), the logo took on a new
life reminiscent of its 1950s meaning.
The Steelers had to
petition the AISI in order to change the word "Steel" inside the Steelmark
to "Steelers" before the logo was complete.
The Steelers are the only
NFL team that sports their logo on only one side of the helmet. At first,
this was a temporary measure because the Steelers weren't sure they would
like the look of the logo on an all-gold helmet. They wanted to test them
before going all-out.
Equipment manager Jack Hart
was instructed to put the logo only on one side of the helmet - the right
side. The 1962 Steelers finished 9-5 and became the winningest team in
franchise history to date. The team finished second in the Eastern
Conference and qualified for the Playoff Bowl. They wanted to do something
special for their first postseason game, so they changed the color of
their helmets from gold to black, which helped to highlight the new
logo.
Because of the interest
generated by having the logo on only one side of their helmets and because
of their team's new success, the Steelers decided to leave it that way
permanently.
Today's helmet reflects the way the logo was originally applied and it has
never been changed.
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