The Philadelphia Flyers aren't the only team out there boasting the orange, black, and white color scheme and there's a reason for that. It's one of the best not just in hockey, but in all of sports, so it's no wonder teams like the San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Bengals also rock the same scheme.
I feel like I'm missing someone, but you get the gist of it. The Flyers colors are some of the best out there, and I've even long since said orange, black, and white are among my own, personal favorite combos. Right up there with kelly green and gold, and red and white, just to name a couple.
Anyway, the Flyers colors are also iconic because of the symbolism behind them. Bill Putnam unveiled those colors in April of 1966, and they were a cross between the University of Texas, where he went to school, and a former hockey team that once called Philadelphia home: the Quakers.
The latter jumped out at me more than anything else, since I can trace my paternal lineage back to the actual Quakers, who happened to call Delaware home, once upon a time. So it was kind of cool to see the colors linked to a team called the Quakers.
Philadelphia Flyers colors have grown even more iconic since the team's founding
Until recently, no other NHL team boasted so much orange in their color scheme. Sure, the Edmonton Oilers and New York Islanders have orange, but it's been primarily a secondary color, even if the Oilers once boasted orange sweaters.
Then, the Anaheim Ducks had to go all orange and, for some reason, combine the color with what I think is Vegas gold, or something like that. Yeah, and to think they only needed to revert to the iconic jade and eggplant color - honestly, why teams have to jump through so many hoops before they finally give fans what they actually want, i'll never know.
Let's just be grateful that the Flyers have never seen the need to rebrand like some of these teams do. And why would they? I mean, keeping the colors (and uniforms) virtually unchanged links the Broad Street Bullies to the newer teams taking the ice year after year.
It also links generations of fans together under one color combo, and even some of the most storied franchises in hockey can't say that. The rival Penguins? Nope. The Buffalo Sabres? Another no. Not the St. Louis Blues, the LA Kings, Vancouver Canucks, I can go on and on here.
But the Flyers have kept things consistent, with just subtle changes to the shades; something hardly any team is immune to. And it's why their colors continue to be one of the most distinguished the NHL, even in the 21st century when rebrands and strange uniforms haunt professional sports.
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