Dartmouth To Wear “Lone Pine” Helmets Against Columbia

The Dartmouth football program will pay homage to one of the college’s historic landmarks by wearing a new helmet design featuring the Lone Pine during Friday’s game against Columbia (6 p.m. on ESPNU).

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐭#TheWoods x #BeatColumbia pic.twitter.com/d98MjA44kt
— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) October 17, 2021

Formerly known as the Old Pine, the Lone Pine stood on the hill behind Shattuck Observatory for more than 150 years. It served as a gathering place for graduating seniors until 1895, when it was cut down due to lightning and wind damage.

The tree was admitted into the American Forestry Association’s hall of fame in 1922 and was cited by the United States Department of Agriculture as a “Famous Tree” in 1938.

Remnants of the tree are kept in a locked storage room at the Rauner Special Collections Library, while the Class of 1927 planted a tree in its honor in 1967. The Class of 1967 has since assumed responsibility for the maintenance of the new tree, which is known as the Dartmouth Pine and sits at the entrance to the Bema, a landscaped amphitheater on the eastern edge of campus.

Additionally, all commencements are conducted from behind the Ole Pine Lectern, which is a replica of the tree’s truck.

As for the helmet the Big Green will wear on Friday, it features Lone Pine symbol created by graduate John Scotford in 1969 for the college’s bicentennial on both sides. The symbol also became a prominent part of the school’s academic logo during a rebrand in 2018, as shown above.

This will mark the first time since 1998 that the Big Green won’t wear their iconic helmet design, which was first introduced in 1965 and features two pairs of swooping stripes flanking a Block “D” on the front.

The Lone Pine helmet will be worn with Dartmouth’s standard green home jersey – which already included the symbol on its sleeves – and white pants.