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The Official History of the Winged Helmet
The official history of the winged helmet is an account consisting of the first three university football teams who wore the winged helmet: Michigan State College, Princeton University and University of Michigan.
Michigan State College
The Beginning of the Winged Helmet (1933 – 1947)
In 1933, when Charlie Bachman became the head coach of Michigan State he outfitted his teams in gold and black. The colors were reminiscent from Bachman’s days at Notre Dame, when he played football alongside Knute Rockne.1
Known as an innovator, not only did Bachman introduce new colors, he was also the first coach to use the winged helmet.
The leather, winged helmets were gold with a black wing design. A small gold block “S” logo was centered on the front of the wing with a single stripe running from front-to-back.1 The wing was actually extra padding that Spalding added to the front of the helmet to help sustain collisions.
The official debut of the winged helmet was Michigan State College’s home opener on September 30, 1933. The winged helmets were a Michigan State College symbol two years before they were introduced at Princeton University, and five years before they were introduced at University of Michigan.2
The winged helmets were worn during the 13 seasons of Charlie Bachman’s rein as head coach for Michigan State football.
Bachman’s successor, Head Coach “Biggie” Munn, returned Michigan State football back to the school colors of green and white. Munn’s winged helmets were white with a green wing design and a small “MSC” logo centered on the front of the wing with no stripe running from front-to-back.1
On September 27, 1947, Munn’s coaching debut resulted in a 50-0 loss to arch rival University of Michigan. After the game, Munn scrapped the leather helmets and replaced them with Riddell plastic suspension helmets. The new helmets were green with a white center stripe, which ultimately ended the winged design for Michigan State College.1
Princeton University
Modified Winged Helmet with Two Additional Stripes (1935 - 1937 & 1998 - Present)
Back when leather helmets were an integral part of the football uniform, the majority of the universities had a choice of merely two colors, black and tan. Michigan State College was an exception and its helmets stood out among all the rest with its gold coloring and black wing design.
Princeton’s head coach, Herbert O. “Fritz” Crisler, admired Michigan State’s leather helmet and decided to duplicate it for his 1935 football team with some modifications of his own. He chose the Spalding helmets identical to the design MSC had been wearing for the previous two seasons. Since his choice of color was limited to the standard black or tan, he painted the helmets with Princeton’s school colors (black and orange). The wings acted as a highly visible emblem on the helmet which, when painted orange, assisted his quarterbacks to more readily spot their downfield receivers.3 Two additional stripes were also added to the existing centered stripe, running along the sides of the helmet from front-to-back.
This winged helmet was included in the 1937 Spalding Official Intercollegiate Football Guide. It was called the FH5 helmet and was described as “National Federation H.S.A.A. Approved.” This was a streamlined version of the helmet and consisted of:
- Tan and black leather
- Air-Lite cushion rubber padding
- Leather lining
- Six-point suspension straps in crown
- Ventilating holes in crown, back and ear pieces
- Slide chin strap
Spalding sold these helmets for $10 a piece.5
The very next year, the same winged helmet with three stripes graced the cover of the 1938 Spalding Official Intercollegiate Football Guide. The cover photo was taken from Princeton's game against the University of Chicago, which was Crisler's alma mater.5
When Crisler left for the University of Michigan at the end of the 1937 season, Princeton returned to the traditional-style leather helmets for the 1938 season.3
On September 19, 1998, Princeton’s football team began wear the winged helmet once again, after taking 61 seasons off.4
Winged Helmet Controversy
Some people claim Princeton’s head coach, Herbert O. “Fritz” Crisler, was the brain behind the helmet’s winged style in 1935 when designing helmets for his Princeton Tigers football team. Supporters of this say Crisler created the design to resemble, not wings, but a fighting tiger’s ears flared back. He painted the three stripes orange, matching the tiger striping on the Princeton jerseys.
This claim, however, is found to be false. Historical data confirms that Michigan State College outfitted its football team with a winged design helmet in 1933 and 1934, two seasons prior to Crisler’s selection of the Princeton Tigers’ helmet in 1935.
University of Michigan
Making the Winged Helmet Famous Through Consistency (1938 – Present)
When Crisler arrived at the University of Michigan for the 1938 season, he ordered the FH5 winged helmets from the 1938 Spalding Official Intercollegiate Football Guide for his new team. Crisler's only modification to the helmet was painting it maize and blue to match the school’s colors.5
The first game in which University of Michigan football players wore the winged helmet was against arch rival Michigan State College on September 1, 1938.5 In this game, both opponents wore winged helmets. University of Michigan would be the third football team to wear the winged helmet, five years after Michigan State College and three years after Princeton University.
Though University of Michigan was not the first to debut the winged helmet, it did make it famous. During the switch from leather helmets to plastic suspension helmets, most universities changed their helmet designs. However, University of Michigan retained the winged design by painting the wings and stripes on the new, plastic helmets and have worn the wings ever since.
Today, University of Michigan’s winged helmets are arguably the most recognizable helmets in college football. Ironically, the design was created and debuted by none other than arch rival Michigan State College, known today as Michigan State University.
1Constantine S. Demos and Steven S. Demos, M.D., The Tradition Continues: Spartan Football (Muskegon: Michigan State University Football Players Association, 2008) 515.
2Demos and Demos 68.
3Tiger Football. “The Tiger Helmet.” 26 Mar. 2010 http://www.princeton.edu/football/helmet.htm.
4Princeton Online Weekly. “After 61 years, “Tiger” helmet returns to Princeton.” The Trustees of Princeton University Sep. 1998, 26 Mar. 2010 http://www.princeton.edu/paw/archive_old/PAW98-99/01-0909/0909sptx.html#story2.
5Bentley Historical Library: University of Michigan Athletics History. “University of Michigan Football: Michigan’s Winged Helmet.” The Regents of the University of Michigan. Apr. 2006, 26 Mar. 2010 http://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/helmet/mhelmet.htm.
Photography Credits: Masthead image and the image of the beginning of the winged helmet are courtesy of The Tradition Continues - Spartan Football; Image of the modified winged helmet with two additional stripes is courtesy of Tiger Football; Images of modified winged helmet with two additional stripes and making the winged helmet famous through consistency are courtesy of Bently Historical Library. Spartan Jerseys claims no ownership to this image.
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