Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions: A legacy of Honolulu blue and Thanksgiving tradition.
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The team plays their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit. The franchise was founded in Portsmouth, Ohio, as the Portsmouth Spartans in 1928 and joined the NFL on July 12, 1930. Amid financial struggles, the franchise was relocated to Detroit in 1934 and renamed the Lions in reference to the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise, the Detroit Tigers. The Lions won four NFL Championship Games between 1935 and 1957. Following the 1957 championship, the franchise did not win a playoff game until the 1991 season and did not win another until the 2023 season. They are the only franchise operational for the entirety of the Super Bowl era to not appear in a Super Bowl.
Quick Facts
- Character
- Historic NFC Rivalry
- Affiliation
- National Football League (NFC)
- First appears
- 1930s Era (Pre-NFL merger context)
- Status
- Active but intermittent due to conference realignment and geography
- Key era
- 1940s and 1950s Championship Contention
Lore & Background
The Lions' colors were chosen by team owner George A. Richards after Glenn Presnell and his wife picked blue and silver from combinations that included red and white, orange and black, and blue and silver. The blue is officially known as 'Honolulu blue', inspired by the color of the waves off the coast of Hawaii. The Lions have played on Thanksgiving since 1934, excluding the years 1939–1944 due to World War II.
Reader's Guide
The Lions' uniforms have remained largely unchanged since 1934, with silver helmets, silver pants, and either blue or white jerseys. Notable changes include the addition of TV numbers in 1956, white trim on the logo in 1970, blue facemasks in 1984, and the removal of black from the team identity in 2017. In 2024, the team unveiled a new jersey set including home 'One Pride', road 'the 313', and alternate black 'Motor City Muscle' jerseys. The throwback jersey was retained and updated with refreshed Honolulu blue.
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