The Minnesota Vikings joined the league in 1960 as an expansion team. The team’s name was chosen to reflect the state’s Scandinavian heritage. The team has appeared in Super Bowls four times but have failed to win Lombardi on all those occasions. The team is also known as Purple People Eaters. The Vikings have the most Conference Championship appearances among all the non-Super Bowl winning teams. The team has won a staggering 21 divisional titles along with 31 postseason berths as of 2024.
The team’s mascot is named Viktor The Viking. Minnesota has an official fight song called Skol Vikings. The team competes in NFC North.
The Evolution of the Minnesota Vikings Logo
The team got its name from then General manager Bert Rose. They were the first team to use the region name as opposed to the city name that they play in. They are also one of the few teams whose helmet logo and official logo has always been different. Their official logo is called Norseman (or Viking) and the team has only altered them twice in the past six decades of their existence. The logo was designed by Karl Hubenthlal.
1961 - 1965 - Original Logo
The Viking profile used in the emblem had a yellow and white color palette. The mustache was elongated and the man wearing a helmet was facing left. The two horns on the helmet were elongated and pointing upwards. The top end of the horns had some black in it. The mustache was white in color while the hair, helmet and horns were all covered in yellow.
1966 - 2012 - Second Logo
The 1966 redesign made the logo look more refined with the head now facing in the right direction. The vikings face had now a natural skin color along with gold mustache and hair. Purple was added to the color palette. The gold helmet had a thick purple stripe on it. The horns featured white as the primary color.
2013 - Present - Current Logo
The viking profile became slightly more realistic with gold color toned down a bit. The horns were now looking more crisp while the purple stripe on the helmet became lighter.
Minnesota Vikings Alternative Symbols
The team has only used two alternate logos since their inception until the present day. The first one that was introduced in 1998 had ‘V’ in purple with a gold outline. The second one was introduced in 2004 had ‘M’ added to the ‘V’ which was already present. ‘M’ was also in the same color palette as ‘V’ of purple and gold.
Minnesota Vikings Anniversary Emblems
The team has come out with multiple anniversary logos to celebrate their rich history. Let’s look at all five anniversary logos the team has unveiled until present.
1985
The first anniversary emblem celebrated the team’s silver jubilee in the league. The logo was a circle in shape with a thick purple outline. The circle was gray in color with ‘25’ pasted in purple while the team’s logo was fully white. The team’s name was incorporated on the left side in uppercase.
1995
The team celebrated its 35th anniversary in 1995. The logo had a small purple triangle on top of a larger one and both were facing downwards. They had thin gold outlines on both of them. Both the triangles were covered in one round ribbon which had ‘35’ written on it in a purple and gold palette. The team logo was the smaller triangle above the ribbon.
2000
The 40th anniversary logo had a gold and purple palette with the Vikings logo exactly in the middle. 1961 and 2000 were written on the left and right side of the logo respectively. Above the logo the full team name was written in uppercase. At the bottom was a ribbon which had the 40th anniversary pasted on it in uppercase.
2005
The logo was in the shape of a championship belt with 45 written in Roman numerals. The ‘XLV’ were purple in color with white and gold outline. Both the team name and ‘Anniversary Season’ were written in uppercase with purple ingrained in them.
2010
To celebrate the team’s golden jubilee, the Vikings came out with a boat emblem. Here a purple boat has a big flagpole/mast of gold and yellow palette. ‘50’ is written on that mast in purple. Below the number is the Vikings logo.
Minnesota Vikings Helmet Design
The Vikings are one of the few teams to have never incorporated their primary logo on the helmet in the franchise's entire existence. The essence and aesthetics of the headgear has always remained the same since the inaugural season. Only the shade of purple and horn outlines have differed from time to time.
1961 - 1979
The first one was a painted purple helmet shell with white horn and a little bit of yellow sprinkled on the horn. It had a gray facemask.
1980 - 2005
The only change that came in the 80s was in the form of facemask. From 1980 until 1984, the team had a white facemask. However, from 1985, Vikings switched the facemask color palette to purple. The purple helmet got slightly darker along the way.
2006 - 2012
The horn logo on the helmet got a drop shadow and gave the three dimensional look to it.
2013 - 2018
The primary color had a slight change. The base color was more of a lighter shade than the previous versions. Also black facemasks came into the picture. The design got a better finish as black outline on the horn was more visible.
2019 - Present
Minnesota only tinkered with the primary purple color to match it with their home uniforms. Everything else remained untouched.
Alternate Helmets
The team has only come up with one alternate helmet look in more than sixty years of the franchise’s existence.
2024
For the first time in franchise history, Vikings have introduced a white helmet. It will also be the first time that no gold is used on the helmet. The glossy white horn is outlined by metallic purple while for the first time, a line is running down the middle of the helmet. There is no drop shadow on the horn. The thick line in the center is of silver/grayish type color. The face masks are also silver/gray.
Minnesota Vikings Uniform History
The Vikings have always kept the same purple and gold combination intact when it comes to their uniform color palette.
1961 - 2005
The Vikings uniform set remained basically unchanged for the first 45 years. The home jersey had purple as the primary color with white number blocks which were outlined in gold. They also had a silver/gray thick stripe between two thin gold stripes on the sleeves. The away jersey had thick purple and gold stripes separating shoulder yoke and sleeve. For the first few years, away jerseys did not have any stripes. The number blocks on white jersey were purple trimmed in gold. Since the mid 90s, primary logos were present on sleeves of both home and away jerseys. The team only used one pant which was white in color. It had purple/gold/purple lines on both sides of the pants.
2006 - 2012
The purple used in this set was lighter in tone than the previous version. The home jerseys were basically the same with gold collar added. Instead of stripes on the sleeves a thick silver/gray underside was added which connected with shoulder stripes. That underside was complemented by two thin gold lines. The away jersey was vice versa of home ones with purple undersides and number blocks trimmed in gold. The pants were white and had the same design on both sides as that of a jersey to uniformly match the striping.
2013 - Present
The stripes on the sleeves made a comeback, however outlines on the numbers disappeared. The purple used this time around was light in shade. The home jerseys have simple white numbers with no outlines. The sleeves have two white and gold stripes on it. The away version has purple numbers with gold and purple stripes on the sleeves.
Alternate Uniforms
The Vikings have worn two alternate uniforms, with one being a color rush.
2016 - Present
Minnesota along with many other teams debuted their color rush jersey in 2016. The purple base jersey has gold number blocks and sleeves. The purple pants with gold lines on the side complete the uniform set.
2024
The all white jersey of the Vikings is named Winter Warrior. This will be the first time in Vikings storied history that the team has all white uniforms with no gold. The jersey has purple numbering with gray/silver outline. The sleeves have thick gray stripes with a thin purple stripe in it. The white pants have the same design on both sides like the sleeves.
FAQ's On Minnesota Vikings Logo History
A. The Minnesota Vikings are owned by Zygi Wilf.
A. The Vikings have never won a Super Bowl.
A. The Minnesota Vikings are also known as The Purple People Eaters.
