The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team.
Team logos and insignia
Throughout much of their tenure as the Highlanders, the logo was variations of a stylized N and Y, which lay separately on either side of the jersey's breast. In 1905, the two overlapped for one season, but not in the way used today. It wasn't until 1909 that the team changed to the familiar interlocking NY that would be the team logo long after the team became known as the Yankees, and would continue to be the cap insignia until today. The interlocking NY was originally designed by Tiffany & Co. and struck on a medal of valor presented in 1877 to John McDowell, a New York City police officer shot in the line of duty.
The primary logo, created in 1946 by sports artist Henry Alonzo Keller, consists of "Yankees" against a baseball, written in red script with a red bat forming the vertical line of the K, an Uncle Sam hat hanging from the barrel. The logo was slightly changed over the years, with the current version first appearing in the 1970s.
The interlocking NY has varied greatly, and there are currently three major versions in use. The first is the cap insignia, in which the N and Y are of about the same size and unadorned. The second is the logo on the breast of the home jersey. This logo first appeared there in 1912, continued through the 1913 renaming to the New York Yankees, and after disappearing in 1917, returned for good in 1936, although there have been many small but apparent changes through the years. In the jersey logo, the Y is larger, the letters more blocky, and the curves more exaggerated. The third is the print logo which is used extensively in marketing, is painted behind home plate at the Stadium, and appears on the team's batting helmets. The N is larger and more curved, and the letters have large serifs at the end.
The Yankees use a block letter "NEW YORK" wordmark in navy blue outlined in white on the gray road uniform which has also become emblematic. There is also a print version of the full name, which is of a more fanciful script than the name appears in the team logo.
Design and appearance of uniforms
The Yankees' official uniform colors are midnight navy blue and white. The home uniform is white with distinctive pinstripes and a navy interlocking "NY" at the chest. The away uniform is gray with "NEW YORK" written across the chest in navy blue outlined in white and navy-white-navy stripes on the sleeve cuff. The player number is on the back of the uniform jersey in navy (outlined in white on the road jersey), and is not accompanied by the player name. A navy blue cap with a white interlocking "NY" logo is worn with both uniforms.
Contrary to baseball legend, the Yankees did not start wearing pinstriped uniforms to make Babe Ruth look slimmer in the late 1920s and 1930s. In truth, the Yankees briefly added pinstripes to their uniforms in 1912, then re-added them on a permanent basis soon after Jacob Ruppert bought the team in 1915.
In 1929, the New York Yankees became the first team to make numbers a permanent part of the uniform. Numbers were handed out based on the batting order in the lineup. In 1929, Earle Combs wore #1, Mark Koenig #2, Babe Ruth #3, Lou Gehrig #4, Bob Meusel #5, Tony Lazzeri #6, Leo Durocher #7, Johnny Grabowski #8, Benny Bengough #9, and Bill Dickey #10. Up until 2019 the team had never issued #0, and still has never issued #00. When other teams began putting names on the backs of jerseys in the 1960s, the Yankees did not follow suit. Many companies have created replica Yankee jerseys and other apparel with the player name above the number on the back for fans to purchase; but the only official Yankee uniforms that have ever had names on the back are special uniforms used during MLB's Players Weekend, an annual event first held on August 25–27, 2017. Apart from the Players Weekend jerseys, the Yankees were the only team in Major League Baseball that did not display the logo of the official uniform supplier on game jerseys or pants supplied to players; that trend would change as Nike took over as MLB uniform supplier in . They are also one of only two teams (the other being the Detroit Tigers) in Major League Baseball to shun the trend of creating an alternate third jersey.
Beginning in the 2010 season, the MLB logo on the back collar of their jerseys has had gray behind the bat of the MLB logo instead of the usual red, which had been there since 2000, when all Major League teams started wearing the MLB logo on the back collar.