The Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts are paying tribute to their team’s nautical heritage with their new uniforms for the 2023 season.
The uniforms were unveiled on the Argos’ social media platforms on Tuesday, May 23. According to the team, they “[draw] elements from the team’s rich traditions while adding new inspiration to help kick off the next 150 years in franchise history.”
The launch video features lots of water and rowing imagery, referencing the team’s founding in 1873 by members of the Argonaut Rowing Club who formed a rugby-football club as a way to stay fit through the winter.
The most striking feature of the new uniforms are the oars on the shoulders of the jerseys. There are six oars on each shoulder to represent the 12 players on the field in Canadian football. Oars also appears as the stripes down the sides of each set’s pants.
The home jersey is light blue — or Cambridge blue, as opposed to the Oxford (navy) blue also used by the Argos. The oars on the jersey shoulders are white, while the numbers on the chest, back and sleeves are Oxford blue with white outlines. The pants and socks paired with the home jersey in the unveiling photos are both Cambridge blue, with white oar stripes down the sides of the pants.
The away jersey, meanwhile, is white with Cambridge blue oars on the shoulders. The numbers are again Oxford blue, but this time with Cambridge blue outlines. The white pants have Cambridge blue oar stripes down the sides.
“We are looking forward to an exciting season ahead as we celebrate 150 years of Toronto Argonauts football and these new uniforms pay tribute to our history while also creating a modern identity on the field that will bring pride to the team and to each player who wears it.”
— Argos GM Michael “Pinball” Clemons
The jerseys themselves are a new model from New Era, the Pro Force Edge. This model features “sleeker lines and shape” compared to previous models. The mesh on the bottom panels of the jerseys is a custom laser cut pattern that creates a wave effect.
Both uniforms feature a new custom number font based on Royal Canadian Navy ship numbers. They also have a navy blue “ARGOS” wordmark on the chest.
The new uniforms are paired with new Cambridge blue helmets that were unveiled earlier this month. They feature an oversized version of the Argos’ boat logo that the team brought back in 2020. It’s set further back on the helmet than most other helmet logos across North American football.
The Argonauts travel to Hamilton on Saturday, May 27, to play their first preseason game. They kick off their 2023 CFL regular season at home against those same Tiger-Cats on Sunday, June 18, at BMO Field.
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