Army's football look is one of the simplest in the sport, and one week a year it becomes one of the most complicated. The Black Knights wear black, gold and gray, usually under a plain gold helmet, for eleven or twelve games. Then in December, for the Army-Navy Game, they wear a uniform built from scratch to tell the story of one Army unit. This year it is the 4th Infantry Division: green camouflage, an "IV" on the helmet and "Ivy Soldier" on the back of every jersey, revealed on November 8.
This is the full history: where the colors and the names came from, how the logo changed, what the helmet has looked like, and every special Army-Navy uniform since 2008 in one table. For what Army wears week by week this season, see our Army 2026 uniform schedule.
Quick Answers
- What are Army's colors? Black, gold and gray. West Point adopted them officially in 1899 for its athletic teams.
- Why gray? Cadets have worn gray since 1816. West Point's own history says gray cloth was cheaper than indigo-dyed blue during the War of 1812. The popular story that it honors Winfield Scott's gray-clad troops at Chippewa in 1814 is repeated often but disputed.
- When did "Black Knights" become official? In 1999. Before that the teams were mostly called the Cadets.
- What is Army's logo? The Athena Shield, introduced on April 13, 2015 when the teams became "Army West Point."
- What is Army wearing against Navy in 2026? The Ivy Soldier uniform honoring the 4th Infantry Division, revealed November 8, 2026. Our grade and piece-by-piece breakdown: Army's Ivy Soldier uniform, graded.
The Names: Cadets, Black Knights Of The Hudson, Black Knights
For most of its history Army's teams were the Cadets, after the students themselves. "Black Knights of the Hudson" came from newspaper writers and the black jerseys. Accounts differ on when it started: some credit a New York sportswriter in the 1920s, others put it in the 1940s, the era of Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis. For decades "Cadets" and "Black Knights" were used interchangeably.
The athletic department made Black Knights the official nickname in 1999. In the 2015 rebrand there were reports that Army would go back to Cadets, but the school said it would keep Black Knights, and it has.
The Colors: Black, Gold And Gray
West Point's official history says black, gold and gray were officially adopted in 1899, because the academy needed distinctive colors for its intercollegiate teams. You will often read that the three colors stand for gunpowder: black for charcoal, gray for saltpeter, gold for sulfur. It is a good story, but we could not find West Point itself confirming that was the reason.
The gray is older than the team. Cadets have worn cadet gray since 1816, when the Secretary of War approved the gray uniform. West Point's account says gray cloth "better suits the finance of the Cadets than one of Blue" during the War of 1812, when indigo was expensive. The Chippewa story, that the gray honors Winfield Scott's troops who wore gray in 1814, traces to Scott's own memoirs from 1864, and historians treat it as legend rather than the documented reason.
Army's teams have worn black and gold in some form since. On the football field black is the home jersey, which is where the Black Knights name came from in the first place.
Chris Cagle runs for Army in the 1926 Army-Navy Game at Soldier Field. Photo: International Newsreel, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
The Logo: From The Black Knight To The Athena Shield
Before 2015, Army's main athletic mark was a sword-wielding Black Knight behind a block "A," the logo that was still painted on Michie Stadium's midfield stripe the night before the change, according to Army Times.
On April 13, 2015, after an 18-month project with Nike, the academy rebranded all of its teams as Army West Point and introduced the Athena Shield as the primary logo for every sport. It combines four pieces on a shield background in black and gold:
- Athena's helmet, for wisdom and the scholar side of the academy
- A sword, for the warrior ready for battle
- A star
- A shield, echoing the academy's crest
The school's reason for the name change was simple: to stop people separating the Army from West Point. The Black Knight nickname stayed.
Is there a new Army logo in 2026? We could not find one for the football team. The Athena Shield is still the primary mark on goarmywestpoint.com. In February 2026 the Army A Club, the athletic department's fundraising club, launched a rebrand with a new logo of its own, and the 2026 Army-Navy uniform puts the 4th Infantry Division's "IV" insignia on the helmet and an ivy-wrapped Athena Shield on the game balls. If you saw a "new Army logo" this week, it was most likely the IV.
The Helmet
Army's standard helmet is gold with a black center stripe and no logo on the sides, one of the plainest looks in college football and one that has barely changed in decades. A few markers along the way:
- 1977: black facemasks first appear, in the Navy game that season.
- 2008: camouflage helmets for the Army-Navy Game, the first of the special builds.
- 2010: a gold helmet without the center stripe against Air Force.
- 2014 onward: a black helmet with a subtle black stripe joins the closet, and Army still wears it some weeks. This season Army wore it with the white road set at Temple.
- Every December since 2015: a one-game helmet built for the Army-Navy uniform, with unit insignia, card suits, netting and, in 2019, an olive-drab shell with gold crossed sabers.
Every Special Army-Navy Uniform, Year By Year
Army and Navy have worn special uniforms in almost every Army-Navy Game since 2008. Since 2016, Army's version has been designed by Nike with West Point's Department of History and War Studies, which researches each unit and fact-checks every detail. Nike says 2026 is the 11th straight season of that three-way collaboration. Nike has been Army's uniform supplier since 2009.
| Year | Theme or unit | The look |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | No single unit | ACU camouflage pants and helmets, "West Point" down the legs, "Duty Honor Country" in place of the nameplate |
| 2009-10 | None | Regular uniforms |
| 2011 | Old-school football throwback | White jerseys with stencil numbers, black striped undersleeves, black helmet stripe, shoes made to look like combat boots |
| 2012 | No single unit | Black jerseys and pants, gold piping, a subdued map on the sleeves, stencil numbers |
| 2013 | War of 1812, Gen. Winfield Scott | White jerseys with gray outlines, gray pants and belts (red belts for seniors), the West Point crest on a gray underlayer |
| 2014 | No single unit | All black with gold stenciled lettering and numbers |
| 2015 | Army branches | Black and white, with 17 black helmets, each carrying a branch symbol (aviation, field artillery, infantry, armor and more) matched to the player's position |
| 2016 | 82nd Airborne Division, WWII parachute infantry | All black with silver accents, hand-painted helmets with paratrooper netting, the 82nd patch on the sleeve |
| 2017 | 10th Mountain Division, WWII | All white with gray stenciling, a "Follow Me" stripe on the back of the jersey and helmet, patches of the 85th, 86th, 87th and 126th |
| 2018 | 1st Infantry Division, "The Big Red One" | All black with red accents, the "1" emblem, regimental patches, a 48-star flag on the back of the helmet |
| 2019 | 1st Cavalry Division, Vietnam | Olive-drab helmets with gold crossed sabers, white jerseys with the yellow horse insignia, olive pants with "United States" stenciled down the legs |
| 2020 | 25th Infantry Division, "Tropic Lightning" | Olive drab head to toe in several shades, the lightning patch on the helmet, "Tropic Lightning" nameplates |
| 2021 | Special Forces, Task Force Dagger, 20 years after 9/11 | Desert (DCU) camouflage, "De Oppresso Liber" on the nameplates, "United We Stand" on the back |
| 2022 | 1st Armored Division, Operation Torch | Olive with a spatter pattern, the 1st Armored patch on the helmet and gloves, "1Δ" on the pants |
| 2023 | 3rd Infantry Division, 2003 advance into Iraq | Tan with black accents, the 3rd ID emblem on the sleeve, "Rock of the Marne" on the back of the helmet, Iraq Campaign Medal stripes on the collar |
| 2024 | 101st Airborne Division, Bastogne 1944 | Black and white with a snow-freckled pattern for the Ardennes, "Bastogne" and the Screaming Eagle patch under the shoulder pads, card-suit unit markings on the helmets |
| 2025 | 250 years of the U.S. Army | All white with a subtle marble print for the headstones at Arlington, Constitution-style numbers and names, purple for the Badge of Military Merit, "1775" on the helmet |
| 2026 | 4th Infantry Division, "Ivy Soldiers" | Green camouflage, "IV" with four ivy leaves on the helmet, "Steadfast and Loyal" on the visor wings, a 9/11 decal on the back, chiseled numbers based on the Utah Beach monument, "Ivy Soldier" on every nameplate |
2008-2024 descriptions follow Military.com's year-by-year history and the units' and teams' own releases; 2025 and 2026 come from Army and Nike. Where outlets described a detail differently, we went with the team or Nike.
2016: The 82nd Airborne
The first uniform built with the history department told the story of the 82nd Airborne and its WWII parachute regiments: all black, silver accents, and helmets painted and netted like a paratrooper's. Army won the game, 21-17, ending a 14-game losing streak to Navy.
An Army player celebrates after the 2016 Army-Navy Game in Baltimore. U.S. Army photo by Michelle Eberhart, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
2018: The Big Red One
Army's sideline in the 1st Infantry Division uniform, 2018 Army-Navy Game in Philadelphia. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. James McCann, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
2022: 1st Armored Division
The 1st Armored Division uniform at the 2022 Army-Navy Game in Philadelphia. U.S. Army photo via the U.S. Military Academy, Wikimedia Commons, public domain
2023: 3rd Infantry Division
"Rock of the Marne" on the helmets, 2023 Army-Navy Game at Gillette Stadium. U.S. Army photo, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
2024: 101st Airborne, Bastogne
The 2024 set told the story of the 101st at Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge. The black-and-white freckled pattern stood for the fog, snow and pines of the Ardennes, and the helmets carried the playing-card suits that 101st paratroopers and glider troops used to find their units after landing.
2025: 250 Years Of The Army
For the Army's 250th birthday there was no single unit. The set was all white with a faint marble print meant to evoke the headstones at Arlington National Cemetery, numbers and names drawn in the style of the Constitution, purple for the Badge of Military Merit (the forerunner of the Purple Heart), and "1775" on the helmet for the year the Continental Army was founded.
2026: The Ivy Soldier
Army revealed the 2026 uniform on November 8. It honors the 4th Infantry Division, which dates to 1917 and took the nickname "Ivy" from the Roman numeral IV. The green camouflage is meant to reflect the ivy-covered foliage of Central and Eastern Europe. The helmet carries an "IV" decal ringed by four ivy leaves, the division motto "Steadfast and Loyal" on the visor wings and a 9/11 memorial decal on the back. The numbers use a chiseled typeface drawn from the 4th Division's monument at Utah Beach, the division insignia sits on the left shoulder, and in place of player names every jersey reads "Ivy Soldier." Ivy shows up on the gloves and the Nike Vapor cleats too.
Army wears it in the 127th Army-Navy Game on Saturday, December 12, at 3 p.m. Eastern on CBS at MetLife Stadium. The rest of Army's 2026 looks, game by game, are in the Army 2026 uniform schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Army football's colors?
Black, gold and gray. West Point officially adopted the three colors for its athletic teams in 1899.
Why does West Point wear gray?
Cadets have worn gray since 1816. West Point's own history says gray cloth was cheaper than blue during the War of 1812. The story that it honors Winfield Scott's gray-clad troops at the Battle of Chippewa in 1814 is popular but disputed.
Do Army's colors stand for gunpowder?
That is a popular explanation: black for charcoal, gray for saltpeter, gold for sulfur. We could not find West Point confirming it was the reason the colors were chosen.
When did Army become the Black Knights?
The nickname became official in 1999. "Black Knights of the Hudson" had been used by writers for decades, and the teams were also called the Cadets.
Why is Army called Army West Point?
Since April 13, 2015, all of the academy's teams compete as Army West Point. The school said it did not want the Army separated from West Point.
What is the Army West Point logo?
The Athena Shield: Athena's helmet, a sword and a star on a shield, in black and gold. It replaced the sword-wielding Black Knight behind an "A" in 2015.
Did Army release a new logo in 2026?
Not for its teams, as far as we can find. The Athena Shield is still the primary mark. The Army A Club, the athletic department's fundraising club, launched its own new logo in February 2026, and the 2026 Army-Navy uniform uses the 4th Infantry Division's "IV" insignia.
Why doesn't Army's helmet have a logo?
Army's standard gold helmet has a black center stripe and no side logo, and it has stayed that way for decades. The special Army-Navy helmets are where the decals go.
When did Army start wearing special Army-Navy uniforms?
In 2008, with camouflage pants and helmets. Army wore its regular uniforms in 2009 and 2010 and has worn a special set every year since 2011.
Who designs Army's Army-Navy uniform?
Nike, with Army football and West Point's Department of History and War Studies, which researches each unit and checks every detail. 2026 is the 11th straight year of that collaboration.
What unit does Army's 2026 uniform honor?
The 4th Infantry Division, the "Ivy Division," with green camouflage, the "IV" insignia and "Ivy Soldier" on every jersey.
When is the 2026 Army-Navy Game?
Saturday, December 12, 2026, at 3 p.m. Eastern on CBS, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Sources: West Point (USMA colors and cadet uniform history; 2024 uniform release), Nike (2026 Ivy Soldier release), ESPN, CBS Sports and Stars and Stripes (2026 reveal), Military.com (Army-Navy uniform history, 2008-2024), Military Times (2016 and 2024 uniforms), Army Times and the Spokesman-Review (2015 rebrand), NBC Sports (Black Knights nickname), goarmywestpoint.com (Army A Club, February 2026).
