Saints

Last update: 3/10/2025

Helmet Colors and the Fleur De Lis

The Saints logo is a fleur de lis, or a stylized lilly flower. The Saints have used two versions of the logo throughout the years. The first (1967-99) was black with a white outline. The logo was updated in 2000 and is more modern with a bold black outline.

The Saints have worn a variety of gold colors. According to the Gridiron Uniform Database, the Saints wore seven different shades of gold between 1967-72, 1973-74, 1975-76, 1978-98, 1988-99, 2000-11, and 2012-present. Other sources have different information and dates. I wish the Saints helmets over the years site had better photos to compare.

Lining the Saints helmets up over the years, I detect 6 different shades of gold.

1. The most obvious is the 1967-75 old helmet. This color is commonly known as old gold.
2. The next helmet from the left is from 1976-99. It’s noticably lighter. I will call it gold.
3. The third helmet from the left reflects the change in the logo. It also appears the Saints lightened up the gold. This helmet was obviously made after 2000. This is light gold.
4. The fourth helmet in the revolution style is from the same era. However, it is noticeably metallic gold. This had to have happened between 2000 and 2011. I estimate it happend around 2005, when Riddell began manufacturing pocket helmets in the revolution style.
5. The fifth helmet from the left definitely loses some of it’s metallic hue. It was made in April 2013. It’s a light metallic gold.
6. The last helmet in line is also definitely a different shade. I looked up the hex color for this helmet. Chat GPT refers to this color as “muted metallic gold” or antique gold. So I’ll go with that.

For the purposes of my checklist, I am going with the following:

• 1967-75: Old gold
• 1976-99: Gold
• 2000-4: Light gold
• 2005-11: Metallic gold
• 2012-14: Light metallic gold
• 2015-present: Antique gold

1967-75: Old Gold, Classic Fleur De Lis

The first Saints helmet had a grey facemask and was in the “old gold” style. It’s in the Throwback Series 1, Throwback 2-bar, and Throwback NFC 1969 2-bar sets. In 1976, the Saints changed the facemask from grey to black. This style is only available in the traditional pocket pro style. The Saints wore the 1976-99 helmet as a throwback in 2011 and 2022.

The Saints switched the sequence of the stripes from white bordered by black to black bordered by white for 12 games in 1968 only. This helmet is available in the Throwback Series 2 set only.

The 1969 2-bar throwback helmet has the Riddell logo in all caps (RIDDELL). The regular Throwback 2-bar helmet has some cursive font (RIDDell). See the Throwback NFC 1969 site for more information.

The Saints wore a black helmet in the 1969 pre-season. Riddell did not manufacture a pocket pro for this helmet. I purchased the black pre-season helmet from High Country Collectables (eBay store) out of West Virginia. The craftsmanship of the helmet is very good.

1976-1999: Gold, Classic Fleur De Lis

In 1976, the Saints changed the grey facemask from grey to black and switched to a regular gold, as opposed to the previous “old gold” color on helmets. This helmet was only manufactured in the traditional style. The Saints also wore this helmet as a throwback, most recently in 2022 and 2023 (but not 2024).

2000-04: Light Gold, Modern Fleur De Lis

The Saints updated the fleur de lis in 2000 and adopted a more light gold color. This helmet is also only manufactured in the traditional and chrome styles.

2005-present

At some point in the 2000’s, the Saints added a metallic hue to their helmets. This color gradually lighted up over the years and at some point the metallic hue was gone. I call the final color antique gold. Regardless, I find three different shades of gold for two revolution styles and the one speed Saints pocket helmets.

Riddell manufactured two series of revolution helmets. One set was in red packaging and the other in black. Maybe the different shades reflect the different series.

Throwbacks

The Saints wore the 1967-75 helmet as a throwback in 2002. That helmet had the “old gold” color.

The Saints wore the 1976-99 helmet as a throwback in 2011, 2017, 2020, 2022 through the present. As far as I can tell, all the helmets had the 1976-99 shade of gold.

2022-present alternate

Released as part of the 2024 limited edition series.

Saints Super Bowl Pocket Pro

Checklist

Year	Color	Facemask	Logo	Stripes	Pocket helmet
1967-75 2002 throwback	Old gold	Grey	Classic fleur de lis	Black-white-black	Throwback NFC 1969 2-bar Throwback 2-bar Throwback Series 1
1968	Old gold	Grey	Classic fleur de lis	White-black-white 12 games in 1968	Throwback Series 2
1969 (pre-season)	Black	Grey	Classic fleur de lis	Black-white-black	None
1976-99 2011, 2017, 2022-present throwback	Gold	Grey	Classic fleur de lis	Black-white-black	Traditional
2000-04	Light gold	Black	Modern fleur de lis	Black-white-black	Chrome Traditional
2005-11	Metallic gold	Black	Modern fleur de lis	Black-white-black	Revolution
2012-14	Light metallic gold	Black	Modern fleur de lis	Black-white-black	Revolution
2015-present	Antique gold	Black	Modern fleur de lis	Black-white-black	Speed
2022 alternate	Black	Black	Modern fleur de lis	Taped gold	Speed – limited edition series

Super Bowl

• Saints Super Bowl 44 (Revolution)

References

• Wallace Delery, A Brief History of the Saints Logo, SB Nation: Canal Street Chronicles
• Gridiron Uniform Database, New Orleans Saints
• Helmet History.com, New Orleans Saints