Naval Academy Unveils Uniforms for Upcoming Army-Navy Game

Good Thursday morning, Uni Watch. I hope everyone had a good Wednesday.

Shortly after Army unveiled its uniforms for the Army-Navy game, the 125th such meeting between the two teams, Navy returned fire with its own salvo. The Navy will be paying homage to the aviators who’ve worn the “Jolly Roger” skull-and-crossbones symbol with their own uniforms.

The Jolly Rogers were established in 1943 and are “the most lethal and history-rich squadron in all of Naval Aviation and continue to exemplify the traditions and excellence of professionalism of the United States Navy,” said the Navy. Their tagline is “Fear the Bones” and their callsign is “Victory.”

We’ll start, as always, with the video.

“Flying over nine different types of fighter aircraft in the past 63 years, the Skull and Crossbones have become the most recognized and feared insignia in the world,” Navy noted. “The Skull and Crossbones first flew in January 1943 on the F4U Corsairs assigned to VF-17, the most lethal Navy fighter squadron of World War II. By the end of the war, the original Jolly Rogers had racked up over 150 kills in the skies over the Pacific.”

The video closes with “Here’s to victory. Here’s to the bones.”

While Army’s hype video felt more like a cross between a uni unveil and a History Channel Documentary, Navy’s video seemed more like a recruitment video. Both were excellent.

Let’s go over the uniforms now, as there are lots of little details that go into the story behind the togs.

Helmet

The helmet combines traditional and modern elements, showcasing the iconic VF-84 design with chevrons on the front and sides and a sleek stripe running along the back. Its white base coat, chosen for its reflective quality, represents the current VFA-103 helmets worn by squadron members.

And the release notes that “this is the second time the Navy football team has honored the Jolly Rogers. In 1962, Roger Staubach and the Mids wore a Jolly Rogers-inspired helmet design in a 34-14 rout of the Cadets at Philadelphia’s Municipal Stadium.”

Jersey

The design features a dark navy yoke on the jersey, mirroring the squadron’s aircraft tail design, and includes the iconic skull-and-crossbones insignia.

The white jersey has a “Navy” wordmark, while the angled stripes on the sleeve caps, featuring nine triangles in total, honor the nine aircraft models flown by the squadron throughout its history. There are also a conference patch and a “Jolly Rogers” patch on the top of the jersey above the wordmark.

Here’s a closeup of the triangles:

Sleeve hems/openings have a navy blue border. Front numbers are a large block navy-colored font.

The rear of the jersey features a “J/R” logo on a thick blue stripe, while the jersey itself is NNOB.

Pants

The pants are white, with a thick navy side panel. They are inscribed with microtext that honors the six Jolly Rogers squadrons that have carried the skull-and-crossbones insignia. An anchor-and-globe logo is on the front left upper leg.

Socks

The model is shown with white compression pants, but also wearing a separate set of socks. They have navy blue tops and white bottoms, with “NAVY” printed vertically in gold. Six triangles are pictured on either side.

Gloves

No uniform reveal would be complete without the gloves (TPFIC). According to the team, “When aligned, the palms of the gloves reveal the Jolly Rogers’ iconic skull-and-crossbones insignia, a symbol synonymous with their fearsome reputation. The gloves also feature bold yellow striping for added detail.”

And of course, the Navy provided this handy-dandy storytelling graphic:

You can read more (a LOT more) about this uniform here. There is even more information and animation (and some nifty graphics) here.

__________Like the Army uniform, I like these a lot — but I don’t love them. I always appreciate how the Academies incorporate actual historical events or equipment into the uniforms, and some of the details on Navy’s 2024 uniforms are pretty cool. I do like the triangles which honor the nine aircraft models flown by the squadron throughout its history, and of course, the helmet is tremendous. The subtle hints of gold throughout the uniform are a nice accent, and of course, the Jolly Roger (skull-and-crossbones) on the shoulder yoke is another nice detail. But when it comes down to how this looks solely as a uniform, it’s a well-done mono white uni (albeit with a lot more detail than your average “Icy White” designs created simply to be all white).

Both academies put a lot of thought and time into their uniforms, and the game will no doubt look good. It certainly won’t lack for contrast. In the end, though, in a season when it seemed like an inordinate amount of games were “all-black vs. icy white,” this one will be as well.

There is nothing inherently wrong with that: Army’s colors are black and gold, while Navy is navy and gold. And of course, one team has to wear a white jersey, so despite the chess piece/Spy vs. Spy look, both Academies are sporting school colors. Over the years, we’ve seen some more colorful matchups, but the 125th meeting between the two squads will still be another great end-of-season pairing.

Navy leads the all-time Army-Navy series with a 62-55-7 record, although Army has won two of the matchups in a row, with the most recent victory coming last December at Foxborough’s Gillette Stadium. This year’s contest will take place on December 14 in Landover, MD (Northwest Stadium, home of the Commanders). Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. ET.

What do you guys think of Navy’s uniforms for this edition? How do you think the uniforms will mesh on the field? This won’t be “just another” Spy vs. Spy game, to be sure, but how do you feel about the matchup?