The Auburn Uniform Database is dedicated to documenting all Auburn athletic uniforms. This entry is part three of a series detailing the history of Auburn’s football uniforms. Be sure to check the previous entries, starting from the beginning or checking last week’s article.

1950

Auburn took the white jerseys with them in to the 1950s. The sleeve stripes appeared to be thinner than previously. The orange and blue helmets were once again worn, but this time with stripes full time. Again, the skill players (QB, RB, WR) wore the orange helmets as the offensive line and defense wore blue.

New blue jerseys debuted, but without stripes. All but two sweaters since 1933 have featured stripes, so the lack of them is surprising.

The two-toned pants made a few more appearance this season, being paired with the white and blue jerseys. Auburn also sported another new set of white pants, this time with a single blue stripe.

1951

Orange britches were worn against Tulane in 1951. (image via 1952 Glomerata)

Ralph Shug Jordan took over as head coach of the football program and quickly put his mark on the team.

Auburn in orange pants is rather odd, wouldn’t you say? It wasn’t too odd in 1951, as the Tigers wore orange britches three times throughout the season. They only lasted this year, so they must have not been well received. They did, though, sport a nice set of stripes which mimic what would be worn on the infamous orange jerseys nearly three decades later. Yet another set of white pants were debuted in 1951, sporting the stripe style we know today.

While the 1950 white jerseys looked to have thinner sleeve stripes, the 1951 tops appeared to bring them back to a larger size. The number font on both jerseys were changed to a more traditional block font. The previous two seasons had seen a minor font change.

The era of sporting two helmets at the same time passed for Auburn, as the Tigers moved to navy blue lids full time. During this time, players were still allowed to wear the leather helmets, so it was fairly common to see both helmet styles in the same photos.

1952

Auburn kept the white-striped pants and stripeless blue jerseys in the rotation, but made other changes. The helmets – both hard suspension-helmets and soft leather – were changed to white.

Orange jerseys were brought back to the Plains, this time matching the blue jerseys with no sleeve stripes.

1953

For the 1953 season, Auburn added a set of thin orange/blue/orange stripes to the helmets. Leather helmets were no longer used (at least visible in any photos). The orange and blue jerseys stayed from the previous year, but new all-white pants without any stripes were worn.

Auburn would finish the year with a Gator Bowl appearance against Texas Tech. The Red Raiders would win the game, but it made for an interesting red-vs-orange uniform matchup.

Texas Tech, in red, scores on Auburn, in orange.

1954

Auburn made no changes to their uniforms this season.

1955

1955 saw the addition of facemasks. They were based on player preference, so there were few single-bar helmets sprinkled in the landscape of open-faced helmets lacking masks. Helmet, jersey, and pant designs stayed the same.

1956

The 1956 season saw some major changes resulting in our first look at a traditional Auburn football uniform.

First off, today’s Northwestern stripes were added to the helmets for the first time. While the blue jerseys didn’t change and remained stripeless, white jerseys returned for the first time in four years sporting the traditional striping pattern. Orange jerseys wouldn’t be worn again until the end of Shug Jordan’s regime. Auburn also added a single blue stripe to the previously stripeless white pants.

1957

Things changed in Auburn, as Shug Jordan brought the Tigers’ their first national championship title.

The uniforms worn on the gridiron did not change, though.

1958

Florida saw Auburn’s new helmet numbers fly by in a blur all game long. (image via 1959 Glomerata)

Following the dream season, Auburn made one minor change – helmet numbers. Well, it was actually a large change – those numbers were huge!

These numbers marked the first time anything other than stripes donned an Auburn football helmet.

1959

Auburn rounded out the decade making no changes to the uniforms. sticking with the design from the previous season.

The 1950s were much kinder to Auburn than previous decades. Though the Tigers spent much of the period on NCAA probation, Auburn succeeded under Jordan, going 63-27-3. Earl Brown started the 1950s and ended his Auburn career with a brutal 0-10 season.

Jordan was instrumental in helping Auburn develop a consistent aesthetic on the gridiron. It took a few seasons, but Shug eventually got his Tigers wearing a similar uniform design to what we see today.

Next week we continue on to the 1960s as Auburn’s football uniforms continue to evolve.

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