The History of the
Wildcat Uniform
 Page Six



2022 - Present

Purple

White




Black
NU wore new uniforms in 2022 that tie back to more traditional styles that the team wore in the 1990s and earlier.

JERSEY: Purple, white, and black jerseys are standard.
  • By far, the biggest change in 2022 was the removal of the 2012 - 2021 chest stripe and the addition of traditional Northwestern Stripes on the sleeves. The chest stripe was a bold stroke and set Northwestern apart, but it served its purpose, and the school chose to reclaim its famous sleeve striping. The new jerseys are clean and traditional. All three jerseys keep the shoulder, or "TV," numbers and the Northwestern wordmark (still in Morgan Poster Avec font) and Big Ten logo on the chest.
  • The purple and white jerseys are identical in style to each other (HTP shows both of them on this page because we show all jerseys in the Under Armour era, even if the road jersey is stylistically the same as the home jersey). They are both very similar to the classic 1976 - 1977 uniform set, with single-color Northwestern Stripes and TV numbers.
  • The purple and white jersey numbers are slightly different from the earlier Under Armour numbers and have dropped the color outline.
  • The black jersey is nearly identical to the short-lived late-season 1994 uniform: white numbers with purple outlines, TV numbers, and a white-purple-white sleeve stripe, in keeping with the Barnett-era jerseys.



HELMET: NU's classic 1981 helmet design remains the standard, with a few minor modifications. NU will use purple, white, and black helmets as standard, with the traditional Northwestern N. In recent seasons, the N logo was both the fuller, slightly rounded version typical of the 1990s and 2000s, as well as the thinner version from the 1980s. It looks like the 2022 version is slightly updated, to make it consistent with the other uniform graphics.

The purple helmet's color now matches the jersey and pants even closer, giving the set a true uniform appearance. The black helmet is matte. All helmets still carry the WIN wordmark on the front plate.


PANTS: The pants appear identical to the 2019 - 2021 versions. The team will continue to use purple, white, and black pants interchangeably, at home and on the road. The pants are plain, except for the standard Northwestern N on the left hip and the Under Armour logo on the right.

While HTP's tracker doesn't usually include shoes, it should be noted that the 'Cats have purple, white, and black UA shoes to mix and match with their unis.

    As with the previous Under Armour years, we will track the various uniform combinations used during the season.     Note: if an entry in the list is in purple, that indicates the debut for that particular part of the Under Armour uni.

    See the bottom of the page for the description of any alternate uniform components.
     
    2022 Game Helmet Jersey
    		 Pants
    Nebraska - @ Dublin Alt. Purple, Irish N Purple Purple
    Duke - Home
    		 Alt. White, Flag N Black White
    So. Illinois - Home
    		 Standard Purple, White N Purple White
    Miami, O - Home
    		 Standard Black, Purple N Black Black
    Penn State - Away
    		 Standard Purple, White N White Purple
    Wisconsin - Home
    		 Alt. Gothic Black Alt. 2019 Gothic Black Alt. 2019 Gothic Black
    Maryland - Away
    		 Standard White, Purple NWhite Purple
    Iowa - Away
    		 Standard White, Purple N White White
    Ohio State - Home
    		 Standard Black, Purple N Black Purple
    Minnesota - Away
    		 Standard Purple, White N White White
    Purdue - Away
    		 Standard Black, Purple NWhite Black
    Illinois - Home
    		 Standard White, Purple N Purple Purple

    2023 Game Helmet Jersey
    		 Pants
    Rutgers - Away Standard White, Purple N White White
    UTEP - Home
    		 Standard Purple, White N Purple White
    Duke - Away
    		 Standard White, Purple N White Purple
    Minnesota - Home
    		 Standard White, Purple N Purple White
    Penn State - Home
    		 Standard Purple, White N Black Purple
    Howard - Home
    		 Standard Black, Purple N Black Purple
    Nebraska - Away
    		 Standard Purple, White NWhite Purple
    Maryland - Home
    		 Alt. Gothic Black Alt. 2019 Gothic Black Alt. 2019 Gothic Black
    Iowa - Home @ Wrigley
    		 Alt. White, Purple Script
    		Purple Purple
    Wisconsin - Away
    		 Standard Black, Purple N White Black
    Purdue - Home
    		 Alt. Black, Flag NBlack Black
    Illinois - Away
    		 Standard Purple, White N White White
    Utah - Las Vegas Bowl
    		 Alt. Purple, White Script Purple Purple

    2024 Game Helmet Jersey
    		 Pants
    Miami (O) - H @ Martin? --- --- ---
    Duke - H @ Martin?
    		--- --- ---
    Eastern Ill - H @ Martin?
    		 --- --- ---
    Washington - Away
    		 --- --- ---
    Indiana - H @ Martin?
    		 --- --- ---
    Maryland - Away
    		 --- --- ---
    Wisconsin - H @ ???
    		 ------ ---
    Iowa - Away
    		 --- --- ---
    Purdue - Away
    		 ---
    		--- ---
    Ohio State - H @ Wrigley?
    		 --- --- ---
    Michigan - Away
    		 ------ ---
    Illinois - H @ ???
    		 --- --- ---
    Bowl Game?
    		 --- --- ---



    2022 - 2024 Alternate Uniform Components


    Jerseys

    JERSEY PATCHES:
    • The 'Cats wore a bowl logo patch on their left shoulder during the 2023 Las Vegas Bowl (the jersey was standard purple).

    Helmets

     HELMET DECALS:
    • For the August 27, 2022 game in Dublin, NU applied a US/Irish flag decal to the back of the helmet, along with player numbers (in a unique font):


    • For the 2023 Penn State and Howard games, NU players again wore a helmet sticker symbolizing Hilinski's Hope, an organization devoted to raising awareness of student mental health, named for former Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski (brother of NU quarterback Ryan Hilinski). The 'Cats wore a similar decal for the 2021 Nebraska game (and possibly other games).

    • The 2023 Las Vegas Bowl featured a new alternate helmet. In addition, the helmet had a Las Vegas Bowl decal on the back, just above the player numbers.

    ALTERNATE HELMETS:
    • Alt. Purple, Irish N: One-off helmet design for the Aug. 27, 2022 game in Dublin vs. Nebraska. The standard Athletic N was redesigned with the colors of the Irish flag. The helmet kept the typical WIN wordmark on the front bumper, but used a lower-case Gaelic font for it. The Wildcats wordmark on the back of the helmet also used the Gaelic font.


    • Alt. White, Flag N: Introduced in 2015. The 2022 version had a crome outline on the N logo and a white faceguard.

    • Alt. White, Purple Script: Introduced at NU's 2023 home game at Wrigley Field, the helmet features "Northwestern" in purple script similar to a baseball script design.

    • Alt. Black, Flag N: This helmet made its debut at the Ryan Field Finale in 2023. This was the first time that NU put its N-Flag logo onto its black helmet. As with the recent N-Flag helmets, this logo has a thin chrome outline.

    • Alt. Purple, White Script: This helmet is a complimentary design to the Wrigley Field script Northwestern helmet that made its debut earlier in the season. This variant, however, is a purple shell with white script. NU introduced it for the Las Vegas Bowl.




    2022 - 2024 Alternate Total Uniforms



    Gothic Uniform (Alt. 2019 Gothic)

    For the 2022 homecoming game vs. Wisconsin and its 2023 home game vs. Maryland, NU wore its classic Gothic uniform. The Gothics were essentially same version worn since 2019.

    HELMET: Virtually identical to the 2014-15 Gothic helmet.

        


    JERSEY: The 2019 gothic jersey, with the revised sleeve stripes and the gold front and back numbers..





    PANTS: Also appear to be the 2019 Gothic version, with no pattern, featuring a gold UnderArmour logo and a purple N with a gold outline on the left hip.