June 20, 2023

Flyers unveil redesigned home and road uniforms

The "burnt orange" of the 80s and 90s is back as the primary color with the Flyers trying to honor their past all while creating something new.

By Nick Tricome
PhillyVoice Staff

Philadelphia Flyers/Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers' new home jersey.

A new era will have new threads to go along with it.

On Tuesday morning, the Flyers fully unveiled redesigned home and road uniforms, which combine elements from past jerseys throughout the franchise's history in the hopes that they'll honor its tradition while just as much serving as a visual for a new path forward.

The Flyers' logo remains untouched and the starting foundation for what (most of) their jerseys have looked like since the team's inception remains in place.

As for what's new...

• The "burnt orange" that became the Flyers' primary color in the 1980s then synonymous with the Eric Lindros-Legion of Doom era teams in the 1990s is back, serving as the base for the home jerseys and socks while filling out the striping across the arms and shoulders on the road set.

“These burnt orange sweaters are one of the most iconic symbols of Flyers hockey," Keith Jones, the recently named president of hockey operations, said in a press release. "There's no doubt that this look is known throughout the NHL and uniquely beloved by our fans because it brings to life one of the most important parts of our rebuild - it honors our past while we continue to forge a new path forward."

⚪️🟠⚫️

The @NHLFlyers are throwing it back! 👀 pic.twitter.com/rHXuJrm1yk
— NHL (@NHL) June 20, 2023

• Speaking of the striping, it's been made wider now so that the player numbers on the sleeves can fully fit within it and be made out easier in action. The sleeve numbers have also been made single color (black for home, white for road) to streamline the design a bit while making a nod back to the original uniforms from 1967.

• The white/orange horizontal stripe across the bottom of the old jerseys – that ran in line with the 1970s look – has been replaced with a thinner black trim along the edge of both in another callback to the 80s and 90s style.

Respect the past. Represent the future.

Details: https://t.co/RJoHlaxB3N pic.twitter.com/LyXvtXCvsV
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) June 20, 2023

• The contrasting nameplates that came with the Flyers' steady re-adoption of their 70s style uniforms in the late 2000s-early 2010s, and have been an NHL signature unique to them ever since, are staying put.

• And so are the black jerseys from the 2017 Stadium Series as an alternate for at least one more season, which will be the last on the NHL's expiring deal with Adidas – its current uniform provider – before switching over to Fanatics.

• Now on to the kicker that will undoubtedly drive jersey purists up a wall but is only growing more inescapable across North American sports: The Flyers will have a jersey sponsor on their home and alternate uniforms from here on out.

Alongside the uniform unveiling, the organization announced a multi-year deal with Independence Blue Cross – which more than likely spawned from Dan Hilferty's ties running the company before he joined Comcast Spectacor – that included an ad patch on the jerseys, sponsorship of a Flyers-branded social media series on nutrition and healthy eating, and plans for single-game ticket discounts for its insurance members.

The idea of a uniform ad isn't entirely unheard of for the Flyers as they did have a sponsor on their helmets during the 2021 season back when COVID still didn't allow for crowds, but up until now, the jerseys have always been left alone in that regard. So this is going to take some getting used to, especially for a sport with fans typically resistant to change and backed by some weird patch placement in the Stanley Cup Final.

Philadelphia Flyers/Philadelphia Flyers

Owen Tippett models the Flyers' new home uniform.

The new uniforms will make their official on-ice debut in October when the 2023-24 season begins, and since the reveal was made ahead of the NHL Draft down in Nashville next week, whoever the Flyers take with the No. 7 and No. 22 overall picks will likely be among the first to wear them.

Rumors of a uniform redesign began popping up midway through last season, and with the Flyers restructuring their front office leadership and fully embarking on a rebuild of the team, now was about as good of a time as any to go for a new look.