ASHBURN, Va. — The Washington Commanders haven’t seen many glory days since last winning a Super Bowl in 1992. Whether they can match their most successful period remains to be seen — but they are going to wear a look that harkens back to that era.
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The Commanders unveiled their new uniforms Wednesday, returning to their more traditional color scheme — and to a look similar to when the franchise won three Super Bowls between 1981-91.
“They’re associated with some incredible moments,” Washington team president Mark Clouse said.
When Washington officially changed its name to the Commanders in February 2022, it also went away from its traditional look.
The team also unveiled an alternate jersey — dubbed the Hail Raiser — that features a spear knifing through the burgundy W on both sides of a black helmet, almost meeting in the front. The franchise featured a spear with a feather dangling from it on its burgundy helmet from 1965-68.
Clouse said they wanted to bridge “the evolution from the Redskins era to the Commander era.”
“The spear is just such a great device,” he said. “That was part [of] the heritage of the team and also can live in this ecosystem that we’ve been building around defining a Commander.”
Clouse said they’re trying to marry the past with their vision of the future. Their new stadium, scheduled to open in 2030, will resemble RFK Stadium, their home from 1961-96 — and the site of their greatest teams. All of this is purposeful.
“I’m sure there will be some that are always looking for a full reversal,” Clouse said regarding the old name and logo, “and that’s not the path we’re on, but I think this is a great way to continue to celebrate that.
“We’ve been very purposeful in trying to bring back the celebration and integration of our heritage while continuing to move forward to build the Commander brand. It’s extremely important that the elements of those things are brought together.”
There’s also a basic explanation for the return to a familiar look.
“We wanted to bring back all the traditional elements,” Commanders chief marketing officer Patrick Arthur said, “so when people come to Northwest Stadium next year and they’re watching the game, they see their team that they grew up rooting for on the field.”
Washington will use block numbers on their jerseys, and have returned to three stripes down the middle of their helmets — white on the outside and gold in between. The Commanders will continue to use a gold W on their glossy burgundy helmets as well as on the black alternate ones. The black helmet will have two gold stripes with a burgundy one down the middle.
The burgundy helmets will feature a gold face mask.
The team used the Super Bowl era jerseys as alternate ones in 2025 — there was talk last year that these would eventually become permanent. Clouse and Arthur both said they talked to fans, whether at games or training camp or other sites, about potential uniform changes.
But Clouse said the players’ response to those uniforms was “our biggest piece of research.”
“They really appreciated the heritage of the team,” Clouse said. “That was real encouragement for us.”
The uniforms will have numbers on the side of the jerseys and return to stripes down the side of the pants: burgundy and gold on the white pants; gold and white on the burgundy pants and burgundy and white on the gold pants.
Over the past year, the Commanders have leaned into trying to define their nickname, dubbing it a “leader of warriors.” They show a video presentation shortly before kickoff at home games — with a medieval “Game of Thrones” look — to emphasize what it means.
The name has not been popular among Washington fans; it hasn’t helped that the franchise has not yet returned to consistent on-field success. The Commanders reached the NFC Championship Game in the 2024 season, winning 12 regular-season games — their most since the ’91 campaign. But they were 5-12 last year and have lost double-digit games three times in five seasons.
And for many fans the new name serves as a reminder of the failed Dan Snyder era. He was the owner during this period; Josh Harris purchased the team in July 2023. Harris has repeatedly said they wouldn’t return to the former name, but that they wanted to embrace the past.
“The priority is honoring our past and then looking to the future,” Harris said at the NFL league meeting in Phoenix last month. “I lived through how amazing those teams were and what an impact it had on me. And I know that thousands of our fans or millions maybe feel the same way. And so I think it’s important to go back to that as much as you can, but at the same time, we have a bright future ahead.”
The new jerseys do not incorporate the word “Commanders” as other uniforms have in the past.
Clouse, who worked in the food industry from 1996 until 2024 when he joined the Commanders, said he learned during that time that “you do not change multiple things at the same time. You evolve very slowly and purposefully.”
He said they still have to convert some fans to their new identity.
“They may not agree with everything that we’re doing,” Clouse said, “but hopefully at least they’re understanding what we’re trying to accomplish.”
