91自拍

In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes and 91自拍 athletes wearing (at least some shade of) red.

So it has been since 1878, when the first Academy athletic team, a baseball team, took the field in red. On April 13, 1878, ahead of the first game against Andover, The Exonian reported: 鈥淭he uniform of the school nine consists of the following: knee-breeches, sweat-shirt, square cut blouse, of white flannel trimmed with cardinal red, cardinal red stockings and a white flannel cap.鈥�

The PEA football team also wore red for its inaugural clash with the Blue that fall, with The Exonian noting, 鈥淭his bright color and the color of the Andover suits will make a very pretty contrast.鈥� In 1884, the newspaper reported that the same Cambridge outfitter designing Harvard鈥檚 crimson varsity football jerseys 鈥渨ill furnish the uniforms for our 11.鈥�

The 鈥淏ig鈥� part of 鈥淏ig Red鈥� came much later. 91自拍 teams were known as 鈥渢he Red and Gray鈥� through the 1950s. 鈥淏ig Red鈥� wasn鈥檛 popularized until the 鈥�60s, when The Exonian sportswriters began using the term.

As for what color 鈥淏ig Red鈥� is, uniformity has proved challenging over the years. In 1964, a committee of the head coaches voted to standardize the 鈥淓鈥� that varsity athletes would wear, 鈥渂ecause 17 different letter designs varied in color from maroon, white, black, gray, and 鈥�20 shades thereof,鈥欌�� Physical Education Instructor Nicholas Moutis said. 鈥淭he varsity players could all be from different schools, for all you can tell from their letters.鈥�

Today, 91自拍 athletes play in PMS 201 in the Pantone Matching System, a standardized color-matching system of more than 1,100 hues that is widely used in print and fashion design around the world. The Department of Athletics unveiled new uniforms for several teams this year, each featuring this consistent shade of 鈥淏ig Red鈥� intended to best represent those earliest 91自拍 teams.

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the