The Broncos' helmet history in photos
From the brown helmets to the current blue helmets with the horse head on the side, look back through all the helmet styles the Broncos have worn since their first season in 1960.
The Broncos' first uniforms featured brown helmets with a single white stripe down the middle and uniform numbers on the side. Pictured here is an early game at Bears Stadium in Denver in 1960 or 1961.
The brown helmets lasted only two seasons, as the much-maligned brown-and-mustard color combo was ditched before the 1962 season. Pictured here: Future Ring of Fame QB Frank Tripucka (18) throws to fellow future Ring of Famer Lionel Taylor (87).
In departing from the brown-and-yellow uniforms, the Broncos moved to the now classic orange-and-blue combination. The first iteration of these uniforms featured an orange helmet with a blue horse logo and white stripe down the middle. However, this helmet didn't last long, as the blue logo largely blended into the orange helmet in black-and-white telecasts.
Photo courtesy of Tom Jacobsen, who provided the image in 2016.
To resolve the blue-logo problem, the Broncos simply changed the horse logo's color to white. Here, future Ring of Fame Gene Mingo poses with the helmet in September of 1963. (AP Photo)
The white-horse helmet with the lone white stripe lasted through the 1965 season, even as the jerseys changed with a much wider shoulder stripe. Here, fullback Cookie Gilchrist leaps over a Jets tackler during an October 3, 1965 win (16-13) at Bears Stadium in Denver.
1963-65: Orange helmet, white logo, three stripes
This iteration of the white-horse helmet last just one season, ending after the 1966 season. Here, Wendell Hayes goes up to snag a pass.
For just one season, in 1967, the Broncos changed their helmets (and uniforms) to a minimalistic look. The helmet no longer bore a logo and went from orange to blue with a single white stripe. It also featured each player's uniform number on the back of the helmet. This was the uniform Floyd Little wore as a rookie. Here, he carries the ball on a run vs. the Raiders.
After such a simple style, the Broncos found a classic look that would last decades, starting in 1968. As part of a completely new rebranding, the Broncos featured their new D logo on each side of a royal blue shell, with a white and orange stripes down the center. That season also was historic for Marlin Briscoe becoming the first Black quarterback to start a pro game in the Super Bowl era.
Many of the Broncos' greatest players wore the blue helmets with the D logo. Linebacker Randy Gradishar, pictured here in a 1983 game against the Browns, was one of the players who helped make this uniform famous. Photo by Rod Hanna
The D logo and the accompanying uniforms and helmets lasted for nearly three decades as the team's primary look, and it became beloved during that time as the team entered a particularly successful era. During the 1968-96 seasons, the Broncos made its first playoff appearance, went to its first Super Bowl and made three additional Super Bowl appearances.
In 1994, as the NFL celebrated its 75th anniversary season, the league commemorated the occasion with throwback uniforms for select games. The Broncos opted for their look from the 1962-1965 seasons.
The Broncos wore the orange helmets twice in the 1994 season — once at home against the Raiders and once on the road against the Bills. Here, quarterback John Elway wears the throwback uniform in the September home game against the Raiders.
In early 1997, the team made a surprising rebrand that made orange an accent color instead of the primary, as it had been ever since 1962. The helmet changed to a darker blue with orange stripes that taper to a point. Here, John Elway, Harald Hasselbach and John Mobley pose during a press conference introducing the Broncos new uniforms on February 4, 1997. Photo by Eric Lars Bakke
The rebranding was immediately marked by success, as the Broncos won the Super Bowl in back-to-back seasons in the first two years wearing the new look. John Elway played his final two seasons in that helmet and uniform and helped usher the team into its most successful era. In all three of the Broncos' Super Bowl victories, the players wore these helmets. Here, he is picked up and carried off the field after winning his first Super Bowl on January 25, 1998.
In 2001, as the Broncos traveled to Dallas for a Thanksgiving Day game agains the Cowboys, Denver returned to their throwback look, including the royal blue helmets with the old D logo. Here, Brian Griese and Gus Frerotte talk about the look of the old Broncos uniforms against the Dallas Cowboys at Texas Stadium on November 22, 2001.
Since the team rebranded in 1997, the 2001 game marks the only time the team has returned to this retro look. Here, Rod Smith makes a reception during the Broncos 26-24 win over Dallas.
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the American Football League's founding, the Broncos and other former AFL teams wore throwback uniforms from their earliest days. For the Broncos, this meant a return to the yellow-and-brown uniforms that had not been seen since 1961. The Broncos wore the uniforms twice — once against the Patriots and once against the Chargers — and won both games. Here, Brandon Marshall dives to score a touchdown.
After the NFL implemented a one-helmet rule in 2013, teams were unable to recreate throwback uniforms that featured helmets with different shell colors. As such, when the NFL unveiled Color Rush uniforms in 2016, Denver's look mixed a retro look with its modern colors. The helmets remained a dark blue, but they returned to the D logo and thick stripes across the center to complement an all-orange uniform. Since then, the NFL has allowed teams to add an alternate helmet color. Here, Von Miller lines up against the San Diego Chargers in the Broncos' first Color Rush game on October 13, 2016.
