How AISI's Steelmark Made It to the Super Bowl

AISI took advantage of the Pittsburgh Steelers being in The Super Bowl by explaining how the team's famed three-star logo (one of the most familiar symbols in sports) came from AISI.

Displayed on the right side of each player's helmet, the logo symbolizes the strength of the Steelers and the Steel City the team represents. Seven decades after Art Rooney purchased the NFL franchise and four Super Bowl victories later with a potential championship this year, the story of the Steelmark and how the Steelers acquired it, is widely unknown, even to some of the team's most avid fans and supporters.

The three four-pointed starlike figures within the circle, called hypocycloids for their geometric origin, made it to the NFL in 1962, when Rooney adopted the Steelmark for his football team. The Steelers logo is based on the Steelmark logo belonging to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). The Steelmark was originally created for United States Steel Corporation to promote the attributes of steel: yellow lightens your work; orange brightens your leisure; and blue widens your world. The logo's meaning was later amended to represent the three materials used to produce steel: yellow for coal; orange for iron ore; and blue for steel scrap.

Back in the early 60s, the Steelers had to petition AISI in order to change the word "Steel" inside the Steelmark to "Steelers" before the logo was complete. Cleveland's Republic Steel suggested to the Steelers that they use the Steelmark as a helmet logo.

In order to test out the Steelmark and see how it looked on their all-gold helmets, the Steelers equipment manager was instructed to put it on only the right side of the helmet. That year the Steelers finished with a 9-5 mark and became the winningest team in franchise history to date. They wanted to do something special for their first postseason game, so they changed the color of their helmets from gold to black, which helped to highlight the new logo.

The interest generated by having the logo on only one side of their helmets along with the team's new success, the Steelers decided to leave the helmet that way permanently. Today's helmet reflects the way the logo was originally applied and it has never been changed. For more information, contact Elizabeth Vago.