Why not green?

[BBTV]

My question is why did "teal" or "turquoise" only become big in the '90s? It's not like the color was just "invented" then, or the technology to produce it wasn't available.

[Gothamite]

My biggest problem with green is that it's hard for me to look "right" in green, in terms of coordinating colours. I've got a number of green jerseys, but find myself wearing red, white or blue jerseys more often as these tend to match more of my other clothes. I have similar problems with colours like orange and yellow too, for some reason...

And that is why more teams don't wear green.

Baseball has always had a traditionally limited color palette, but football and basketball have always been represented by a fair number of green teams.

But as the leagues expanded, green got left behind, because it's not a particularly strong merchandising color.

[tBBP]

My question is why did "teal" or "turquoise" only become big in the '90s? It's not like the color was just "invented" then, or the technology to produce it wasn't available.

I really can't put a finger on why teal wasn't used all that much if at all before 1988. As for the time after that, I chalk it up to novelty.

I can remember the Charlotte Hornets' identity/uniforms being a pretty big deal back during the early '90s (the Hornets, of course, being the first team to prominently feature teal as a team color). I'm not too sure which team did it next (a piece of me wants to say the Arizona Rattlers, or maybe the Seattle Mariners), but after the Jacksonville Jaguars unveiled their [initial] identity, I think it exploded from there. Suddenly, teams were like "oh look--new color!! It's a big hit!!" and jumped on the train. Pretty much the same thing seemingly half the NBA's western conference and several other pro sports teams in other leagues did with the light/columbia/baby/whatever-shade-of blue after the Denver Nuggets' identity overhaul.

I've been saying for the longest that the next "hot" or "it" color might well end up being some shade of green, possibly a lighter, brighter shade, like the Seahawks or the Sounders. I'm still holding onto that prediction (though I make no claims to be a Nastradamus of any type. )

[Davidson]

i would have thought one of the reasons football and baseball teams tend to have few green teams might well be clashing with the grass.

[IceCap]

My question is why did "teal" or "turquoise" only become big in the '90s? It's not like the color was just "invented" then, or the technology to produce it wasn't available.

Why did the navy/powder blue combo become popular more recently? Sometimes things just take off.

[lost_limey]

i would have thought one of the reasons football and baseball teams tend to have few green teams might well be clashing with the grass.

Yet Soccer has a decent number of green teams. Look at the WC2010, they have:

South Africa

Mexico

Nigeria

Algeria

Slovenia

Australia

Cameroon

Ivory Coast

Portugal

Either have green as a primary or secondary color.

That's 9 out of 32 teams or 28(ish)%

And I'm pretty sure soccer has a lot of grass to worry about.

[BBTV]

My question is why did "teal" or "turquoise" only become big in the '90s? It's not like the color was just "invented" then, or the technology to produce it wasn't available.

Why did the navy/powder blue combo become popular more recently? Sometimes things just take off.

Not really where I was going. Navy and light blue have been used in sports forever. Maybe not really together, but they still existed as far back as the very first sports uniforms (not very first ever, but first of the "modern" era in the late 1800s. I don't care about now ancient olympics.)

You never saw teal in any sport in the major leagues. I wonder if it even had any place at all in popular fashion in the late 19th century or early-to-mid 20th. It's not a hard color to make - just some blue and green (shut up, CWx - I know it's not that simple!, but my point is that it existed and was makeable).

My guess is that it was looked at as a feminine color, so male pro teams stayed away from it in favor of stronger color combos.

[Morgan33]

Well here are the NHL teams that have worn Green Jerseys (Variations not included). If someone could do the other leagues that'd be great.

Aside from the Seals and Coyotes, these all look great. Currently the only Green Jersey in the NHL is Minnesota's Third.

[IceCap]

My question is why did "teal" or "turquoise" only become big in the '90s? It's not like the color was just "invented" then, or the technology to produce it wasn't available.

Why did the navy/powder blue combo become popular more recently? Sometimes things just take off.

Not really where I was going. Navy and light blue have been used in sports forever. Maybe not really together, but they still existed as far back as the very first sports uniforms (not very first ever, but first of the "modern" era in the late 1800s. I don't care about now ancient olympics.)

You never saw teal in any sport in the major leagues. I wonder if it even had any place at all in popular fashion in the late 19th century or early-to-mid 20th. It's not a hard color to make - just some blue and green (shut up, CWx - I know it's not that simple!, but my point is that it existed and was makeable).

My guess is that it was looked at as a feminine color, so male pro teams stayed away from it in favor of stronger color combos.

Yeah, I would say that the femininity thing played a part in it. As for why it took off when it did, perhaps it had to do with expansion teams in the late 1980s/early 90s wanting to establish identities unique from what came before. So a few teams used teal because it wasn't used at all previously (I think the Hornets and the Sharks were two of the first), and because those new looks were so refreshing they sold well. So other expansion teams hopped on the train. And even some established teams joined in.

[Canadian_Idiot]

Well here are the NHL teams that have worn Green Jerseys (Variations not included). If someone could do the other leagues that'd be great.

Aside from the Seals and Coyotes, these all look great. Currently the only Green Jersey in the NHL is Minnesota's Third.

Huh.. i just realized that Minnesota's old jerseys had mesh armpits.

I guess I've never bothered to look at their jerseys much.

[Chapeeko]

The only green jersey in MLB

Current green NBA jerseys

Current NFL green jerseys

[Gothamite]

Don't forget that, for a long time, teams ordered from the manufacturer's standard color palette.

When Vince Lombardi moved to Washington, he changed suppliers, and the Redskins' primary color was changed as a result:

So it shouldn't be surprising that a color like teal wasn't in much use.

[LEWJ]

You're right about the MLB. Which teams are even known for being green? The A's and... is that all? I believe Tampa Bay used to be green, teal and purple in their early years.

My personal theory is that since the USA is red, white and blue, there's a tendency for sports franchises to flock to red and blue as opposed to green. It makes sense in a way... In the NFL, the AFC is represented in red and the NFC is represented in blue. In the NBA and NHL, the Eastern Conference is red and the Western Conference is blue. The MLB is basically "red teams" vs. "blue teams." I don't know what it is about green, but it's definitely not used as often.

Of course, it could come down to the simple fact that maybe green just doesn't have any many pleasant hues as red and blue do.

Not to take anything away from the point you are making. But the NHL and NBA Conference colors are actually flipped from each other. Something I find interesting.... And confusing, I can never remember which is which off the top of my head.

NBA: East is blue, West is red.

NHL: I assume East is red, and West is blue.

Back on topic though, I definitely agree that green is greatly under-used.

I also agree with whoever said the big four needs more brown; such a beautiful color, especially when paired with the right color.

[Canadian_Idiot]

The only green jersey in MLB

Current green NBA jerseys

It's a shame the Mavericks don't have their P-Diddy Styled Green and Blue throwbacks anymore.

I didn't care much for the styling on them, but i loved that colour scheme.

[oldschoolvikings]

LOVE green... especially a true kelly green (highway-sign green my old art prof called it), like the Celtics and the old Northstars. Wish all the teams that darkened their green (Eagles, Stars, A's) would go back to it.

Does anybody (colorwerx?) know when the A's went from their awesome fabulous kelly green to their current drab darker green?

Also, does anybody have a pic of that great Bucks uni when the added all the multi-green stripes, but BEFORE they completely dropped the red?

[TruColor]

LOVE green... especially a true kelly green (highway-sign green my old art prof called it), like the Celtics and the old Northstars. Wish all the teams that darkened their green (Eagles, Stars, A's) would go back to it.

Does anybody (colorwerx?) know when the A's went from their awesome fabulous kelly green to their current drab darker green?

Oakland A's Green history:

Actually, that Kelly/Pacific Ocean Green color goes all the way back to 1963 - with the Kansas City A's...

[TruColor]

Then of course, there's my alma mater:

[Gothamite]

Also, does anybody have a pic of that great Bucks uni when the added all the multi-green stripes, but BEFORE they completely dropped the red?

Here's the home version:

I was always partial to the shades-o-green:

[Mingjai]

Perhaps the little use of green has to do with the playing surfaces of baseball and football being green.

This would be my unofficial and wildly uneducated guess as well...

One of the complaints about Boise State's smurf turf is that it gives the Broncos an unfair advantage because their all-blue home uniforms blend in with the turf. If blending in with the playing field really were an advantage, then would we actually see a lot of teams wearing a shade of green that matches their grass field?

Maybe the human eye/mind is much better able to distinguish among shades of and/or movements in green than it is able to distinguish among shades of/movements in blue, so that blue provides an advantage and green doesn't. But until I see evidence that this is the case, I'm not going to buy into the blue turf being an advantage because of uniform blend.

[Davidson]

i would have thought one of the reasons football and baseball teams tend to have few green teams might well be clashing with the grass.

Yet Soccer has a decent number of green teams. Look at the WC2010, they have:

South Africa

Mexico

Nigeria

Algeria

Slovenia

Australia

Cameroon

Ivory Coast

Portugal

Either have green as a primary or secondary color.

That's 9 out of 32 teams or 28(ish)%

And I'm pretty sure soccer has a lot of grass to worry about.

well, not quite, 2 of those teams use green on neither their home or away jerseys for the world cup. slovenia and algeria choose white as their home colour, portugal play in red with a white away kit, australia have a gold home jersey and blue away, ivory coast have an orange home jersey, so of all those teams 4 have green as a home colour and 3 have it as the primary colour on the away jersey. so as a first choice strip the percentage is (4/32)100 = 12.5% and as a total percentage of shirts home and away (7/64)100 = 11%

taken as a percentage of teams who have green as a main part of their flag, only 4/10 40% teams wear it as the main jersey colour. well actually 3/10 30%, slovenia have no green in their flag.

but this is slightly beside the point. when dealing with national identity, i think teams are somewhat restricted by the colours of the national flag. the likes of nigeria and algeria have little to work with, but green and white. perhaps you are right, perhaps it makes little difference for most people, but i struggle with green (and red) teams due to colour blindness. there are teams who have complained in the past of playing in particular colours that caused difficulty in identifying team mates against the background of pitch and stands.

i dont really know anything about baseball, but it would be interesting to take a look at the colours new formed football teams choose when starting up.

its definitely interesting tho, youd really need to take a look at the colours other teams play in and the rate which they select from the colours of their national flags to give any significance to the above statistics.