Purple, as a Team Color

[Brian in Boston]

To get things started, I'll throw out this observation: I think my favorite purple-users in sports are the MLB Astros and Diamondbacks. I know what you're thinking, and you're right: that's not "purple" as we know it today. But their shades of deep red are awfully close to what the Romans called purple and what became therefore the European color of royalty.

The last time I checked, neither the Astros or Diamondbacks were playing their home games in the Coliseum in Rome. Translation? What they're wearing isn't Purple.

That said, I join you in wishing that the Rockies would beef-up the use of Purple in their color scheme... though I'm not someone who prefers a "reddish" Purple.

[Captain Apollo]

Purple is a garish color that should NEVER be used!!!!!!!!!

Let me get a few beers in me and I?ll tell you what I really think.

[Ry]

The Jazz need to go back to purple.

[Discogod]

My favourite sports team is the N.O. Hornets. Back in the early 90's when I first started following them, I loved the colour scheme they had. The purple accenting on the teal jerseys was perfect IMO (and the green and blue pinstripes were great too). I'd never seen a combo like that in sports before.

Of course, the purple alts they had c. 94-96 were horrible. That's the problem with purple... Great as an accent colour, not so good as a primary.

[TruColor]

My favourite sports team is the N.O. Hornets. Back in the early 90's when I first started following them, I loved the colour scheme they had. The purple accenting on the teal jerseys was perfect IMO (and the green and blue pinstripes were great too). I'd never seen a combo like that in sports before.

Of course, the purple alts they had c. 94-96 were horrible. That's the problem with purple... Great as an accent colour, not so good as a primary.

Little-known fact: both versions of the Charlotte Hornets' uniforms were (primarily) trimmed in ROYAL BLUE...not Purple. All of the lettering and numbers were trimmed in Blue:

[TruColor]

To get things started, I'll throw out this observation: I think my favorite purple-users in sports are the MLB Astros and Diamondbacks. I know what you're thinking, and you're right: that's not "purple" as we know it today. But their shades of deep red are awfully close to what the Romans called purple and what became therefore the European color of royalty. And unlike, say, the Rockies purple, you can't mistake that deep-red Roman purple for any other color. It looks like what it is, not like dark blue or maroon or charcoal or black, as many other shades of purple do.

If you're going to claim that the Astros and Diamondbacks wear "Purple", then you need to include these teams as well - since they also use the exact same shades of Red (at least in print):

• Atlanta Falcons
  
• Connecticut Sun
  
• Houston Texans
  
• Kansas City Chiefs
  
• Lancaster Barnstormers
  
• Lehigh Valley IronPigs
  
• Los Angeles Avengers
  
• Miami Heat (former shade of Red before the 2007-2008 season)
  
• Milwaukee Bucks (current color scheme)
  
• Minnesota Wild
  
• Montreal Canadiens
  
• Newark Bears
  
• New York Giants
  
• Quad City Steamwheelers
  
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  
• Tulsa 66ers
  
• Utah Flash
  
• Williamsport Crosscutters
  

This is a partial list...there are many other franchises who use one of those colors.

[eRay]

first off, i feel cheated because the hornets trim used to be straight royal blue, they tricked us all.

second off, i love the use of purple by anybody that dares, and think it is pulled off beautifully by some teams, like the rockies(if they wore the purp hats), new orleans voodoo(puple, red and gold looks great), lakers(i hate to say it, but the forum blue works), UAlbany football(uses yellow helmets and pants paired with purp jersey),and the hornets of course, once they replace their yellow alt with a purple one. My alma mater Alfred University also used purple, but more of a deep dark purple that i also think looks good. pic....

[TruColor]

...the forum blue works...

The Lakers stopped calling their primary color "Forum Blue" after the 1979-1980 season. It has been called "Royal Purple" ever since.

[darkshadow1031]

At the AA level, my Akron Aeros occasionally wore their purple batting practice jerseys for home games.

Yes this is Asdrubal Cabrera, current Cleveland Indians second baseman, who started 2007 in AA Akron as shortstop

[josdin00]

Even though they are close on the color wheel, I'd like to see a team use a purple/red/silver or purple/red/gold color scheme.

A couple of people have mentioned the New Orleans Voodoo, which is who I instantly thought of when you mentioned purple/red/gold.

[Gothamite]

The Bucks very nearly kept the purple. This was mistakenly up at their nba.com store for a while:

I'm pretty sure that was just a PhotoShop error by whoever did the online store mockups. I've never heard any reliable sources (or even rumors, for that matter) that the Bucks intended to keep the color scheme in their recent overhaul.

[charger77]

What about:

Dan

[Rambulance]

I've always been a fan of East Carolina's football uniforms. There have been a few in there that weren't the best, but for the most part they have been classy.

As with any color nowadays, purple gets mixed in with black too often. And I think it works even less with it, IMO. Look like Fitzgerald fixed the black creep that was happening at Northwestern, even though he wore it himself as a player.

[powersurge]

Washington used to pull off purple beautifully...

Probably the BEST use of Purple in sports uniform history.

Um..

How could I forget my Lakers?

Now THAT's embarassing!

[powersurge]

All this talk of purple and no mention of the Sacramento Kings?

They shouldn't even be purple.

Although I completely agree with you on this one....it is important to point out that purple was used exclusively by kings and royalty throughout history. Fabric was so expensive to make in purple that only kings and royalty could afford it and it became instantly associated with that social class.

So I guess one can argue that Sacremento KINGS have more of a right to don purple than the LAKERS. But what do I know?

[eRay]

...the forum blue works...

The Lakers stopped calling their primary color "Forum Blue" after the 1979-1980 season. It has been called "Royal Purple" ever since.

well even though i was born in 1985 i still somehow have always called it forum blue...why should official color names stop me now?

haha but thanks for the info.

[TruColor]

...the forum blue works...

The Lakers stopped calling their primary color "Forum Blue" after the 1979-1980 season. It has been called "Royal Purple" ever since.

well even though i was born in 1985 i still somehow have always called it forum blue...why should official color names stop me now?

haha but thanks for the info.

Fantastic. You were born during my last year of college.

That makes me feel better...

[Thad]

Furman has always looked classy in purple to me.

[BBM]

I think the only professional teams who can pull off purple are the Lakers and Vikings. Everyone else looks pretty awful in purple. ESPECIALLY the LA and Sacramento Kings. And Ravens. Rockies are OK I suppose.

[Bayne]

I think purple is a great colour for sporting teams if used correctly. Its such a strong, bold, standout colour...really represents a lot.

Perth Glory in the A-League: