The 1919 uniforms were almost identical to 1918. The 1918 WW1 flag patch was removed, and a pillbox cap with pinstripes was added. The Cardinals had not worn a pillbox hat since 1898. We believe the team continued to wear the solid colored (blue or black) caps with the SL emblem, as well as the alternate cap with red seams. We do not know in what capacity these three hats were worn. Home/road? Saturday? Practice?
Because the 1919 uniforms are mostly a carryover from the previous season, we must mention again the 1918 newspaper claim that the team wore black caps, with green pinstriped uniforms, and a black stripe on their socks. We do not know if this newspaper writer is mistaking black for a very dark blue. We have the uniform models below represented with a Pantone 289 Dark Navy Blue. The only physical sample we have from 1918 or 1919 is the Branch Rickey road jersey in the Cardinals Museum collection. That particular jersey has blue pinstripes, and either a black or very dark blue pipe on the sun collar. Based on this jersey, we can not fully corroborate the green pinstripes, but we can not rule out they may have existed on the home uniforms. We have no physical samples of the 1918 or 1919 caps to find out what color they were.
A uniform quirk following up from the previous season… in 1919, the “d” in Cardinals is set right in the middle of the placket, instead of the “i”. In the season before, the “i” would be placed right in the middle of the placket. We have used this difference to help identify photographs from these two seasons.
Newspaper Accounts
St. Louis Star and Times: April 8, 1918
The uniform of the Cardinals has been changed. The body is of gray instead of the 1917 drab, with a fine green stripe running through. On the left sleeve is a United States flag, while “Cardinals,” in that color, appears on the breast of the shirts. The caps are black and the upper half of the stocking black with the lower half white.
Team Colors
Cardinals Red – PMS 200
Cardinals Navy – PMS 289
Off-White Fabric – CMYK: 1/2/3/0
Gray Fabric – CMYK: 0/0/0/20
Cardinals Uniforms & Logos 