How the Minnesota Viking Uniforms Came to Be

Paul Lukas, writing for ESPN:

Here’s the backstory: The Vikings’ first general manager was former Los Angeles Rams public relations director Bert Rose, and their first coach was former Rams quarterback Norm Van Brocklin. When it came time to create the new team’s look in 1961, they turned to a prominent Los Angeles sports cartoonist named Karl Hubenthal, whom they knew from their days in L.A.

It was Hubenthal — not a Vikings employee, not a Minnesota design firm, not the NFL Properties office — who designed the Norseman logo and the team’s original uniform set, including the distinctive horned helmet. Per Rose’s instruction, Hubenthal executed the designs in purple and gold. Why those colors? Because those are the colors of the University of Washington, where Rose had attended college. So with the L.A. and Washington connections, the look of this quintessentially midwestern team had strong West Coast roots.

The Vikings have stayed true to Hubenthal’s original design to this day. Classic.

★ Monday, 4 December 2017