1918 was full of uniform firsts for the Cardinals. For the first time in their history, the team would wear the word Cardinals across the chest. For the first time the letters weren’t block letters, instead the letters were italic or oblique style serif letters. For the first time, the lettering wasn’t in all capitals; every letter except for the C is shown in lowercase. For the first time the Cardinals donned pinstriped uniforms, and not red stripes either. For the first time since becoming the Cardinals, the team wore solid blue caps instead of red or white. The team introduced a new SL emblem for the cap. We also observed players wearing another solid blue cap with red seams. We do not know in what capacity this cap was worn.
All teams around the league wore an American flag patch on their left sleeve recognizing the country’s involvement in World War I.
A uniform quirk, in 1918, the “i” in Cardinals is set right in the middle of the placket, with the “d” slightly tucked underneath the jersey fold. In the following season, the “d” would be placed right in the middle of the placket. We have used this difference to help identify photographs from these two seasons.
The Branch Rickey jersey shown above is the oldest known Cardinals jersey in existence.
Team Colors
Cardinals red – PMS 200
Cardinals navy – PMS 289
Cardinals Uniforms & Logos 