Baltimore Ravens To Kick Off 30th Season Celebration With Throwback End Zones On Sunday

The Baltimore Ravens will kick off their 30th season celebration during Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns (1 p.m. ET on CBS) by painting the end zones at M&T Bank Stadium with a throwback design.

😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/Dh3lXgZggr
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 12, 2025

The purple end zones feature the Ravens’ original wordmarks, which were used at Memorial Stadium during their first two seasons before switching to a drop-shadow block design alongside a move to their current venue in 1998.

The purple backdrop is a new touch, though, as the wordmarks were against the grass-colored background from 1996-97. The 1997 season also featured the addition of NFL and AFC logos flanking the wordmarks.

The Ravens are not allowed put their original logo at midfield to complete the throwback field design, however, as an amateur artist sued the franchise for copyright infringement in 1998 after they used his design without credit.

Baltimore then introduced its current primary helmet logo and secondary shield mark in 1999. The latter has been displayed on the 50-yard line in all but four seasons since, and will remain in that spot on Sunday, likely to avoid any further litigation.

Interestingly, the Ravens have been using their original sleeve logo – which is similar to the throwback end zone wordmarks – on social media in recent months, including in an AOL-themed graphic previewing Sunday’s game.

Their 1996-98 uniforms also appear as a playable option in Madden NFL 26, so we’re starting to wonder if there’s some sort of compromise happening behind the scenes that could allow them to wear the uniforms (or use the logo) again in the future.

The original logo also served as the main inspiration for their 30th season mark, with a shield-like shape and the cross bottony from the Crossland Banner at the bottom. It’s unclear if the throwback end zone design will remain in place for the entire season.

Photos courtesy of @Ravens on X/Twitter and The Gridiron Fields Database.