Under Armor and Navy Football Unveil Skull and Crossbones Uniforms for Army-Navy Game

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Each year, Under Armor teams up with Navy Athletics to create an alternate uniform for the big game between Army and Navy. This year’s uniforms honor the Jolly Rogers with a skull and crossbones theme.

The game will also be an apparel rivalry as Army teams up with Nike to try to outdo the Midshipmen on their uniform. The Army is yet to unveil its alternate uniforms.

From Navy Athletics:

Navy Athletics and Under Armor unveil the 2024 Army-Navy Uniform in honor of the Jolly Rogers

Navy Athletics and Under Armor today unveiled the 2024 Army-Navy battle uniform that will honor the Jolly Rogers on Dec. 14 at the 125th playing of the Army-Navy game presented by USAA at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md. Kickoff is set for 3 PM and the game will be televised nationally by CBS.

Established in 1943, the Jolly Rogers is the most lethal and storied squadron in all of Naval Aviation and continues to exemplify the traditions and excellence of professionalism in the United States Navy. Their slogan is Fear the Bones and their call sign is Victory.

Flying on nine different types of fighter aircraft over the past 63 years, the Skull and Crossbones have become the most recognized and feared insignia in the world. Skull and Crossbones first flew in January 1943 on F4U Corsairs assigned to VF-17, the deadliest naval fighter squadron of World War II. By the end of the war, the original Jolly Rogers had accumulated over 150 kills in the skies over the Pacific.

In 1946 VF-17 was designated VF-5B and then again in 1948 to VF-61 when the Jolly Rogers went from the F4U to the F-8 Bearcat. VF-61 subsequently transitioned to the fleet’s first fighter, the F-9 Panther, then the FJ-3 Fury, and finally the F-3H Demon, prior to the squadron’s disbandment in March 1959.

Flying F-8 Crusaders at the time, the VF-84 Vegabonds were designated the Jolly Rogers in June 1959 to preserve the tradition and history of “The Bones.” Eventually, VF-84 Jolly Rogers transitioned from the F-8 Crusader to the F-4 Phantom and finally to the F-14A Tomcat in 1975.

Following VF-84’s decommissioning in October 1995, the decision was made to retire the “Club and Cloverleaf” insignia of the VF-103 “Sluggers” and have the Fighting 103 adopt the Jolly Rogers insignia and tactical call sign “Victory” in October 1, 1995. Before adopting the Jolly Roger name and insignia, VF-103 entered service in 1952, had consistently proved ready and willing to perform all assigned missions while flying successively more complex and capable aircraft. VF-103 flew several sorties in the moonless skies over Vietnam and scored the only night MiG kill of the entire conflict.

Skull and Crossbones had now moved to its fifth home to preserve the rich history and many achievements of all the Jolly Rogers, spanning four generations and four fighter squadrons. VF-103 made its last deployment with the F-14B Tomcat in 2004 aboard the USS John F. Kennedy conducting missions in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, and the squadron transitioned to the F/A-18F Super Hornet in February 2005, being converted to VFA-103

In October 2006, VFA-103 deployed with CVW-7 aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) to the CENTCOM AOR in support of Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM, and Horn of Africa Operations off the coast of Somalia. In 2008, Jolly Rogers transited the Strait of Magellan aboard USS George Washington (CVN 73) during the Partnership of the Americas deployment before commencing workups in June. Jolly Rogers deployed again in February 2009 in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. During five months of support to coalition ground forces engaged in close combat with the enemy, the squadron led the air wing in kinetic effects.

Less than six months later, Jolly Rogers returned to sea for a seven-month surge beginning in January 2010 aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. VFA-103 continued its role as Carrier Air Wing SEVEN’s (CVW-7’s) go-to squadron for the most demanding combat and combat support missions. While deployed, the Jolly Rogers led the air wing in combat operations, flying over 1,850 sorties and nearly 5,900 hours. The squadron’s relentless efforts to prepare for spearhead operations culminated in the successful delivery of 14 precision weapons, over 600 20mm rounds and more than 80 non-kinetic demonstrations of force/presence in direct support of coalition forces fighting in Afghanistan.

In 2016, The Jolly Rogers completed a cruise of the ages, embarking USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) in support of Operation INHERENT RESOLVE. During this deployment, the Jolly Rogers once again proved to be the most lethal squadron in the Air Wing (CVW-7), seeing them expend more Precision Guided Ammunition (490 rounds of ammunition) than any single squadron in Naval History.

Continuing the trend of setting greatness and setting records in Naval Aviation, Jolly Rogers deployed on USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) for 10 months in support of maritime security operations in the US 5th, 6th and 7th Fleet areas of operations. This deployment spanned 295 days, setting a record for the longest carrier deployment in the post-Cold War era.

Jolly Rogers left Norfolk in August 2022 and returned in April 2023, spending her entire deployment in the US Naval Forces Europe and Africa areas of operations. During this historic deployment, the men and women of VFA-103 and other squadrons within Air Wing (CVW-7) participated in a wide variety of multinational exercises and combat operations to enhance North American Treaty Organization (NATO) capabilities and deter aggression in the region.

In its most recent deployment, VFA-103 deployed on a Southern Seas deployment from April to July 2024, working with partner nations in SOUTHCOM and an overflight of Guyana to show support.

The Jolly Rogers of VFA-103 continue to exemplify the Naval Aviation traditions of excellence and professionalism. With the Jolly Rogers emblem proudly emblazoned on the tail of the most lethal and storied fighter squadron in all of Naval Aviation, the legacy of “The Bones” promises to endure for many years to come.

This is the second time the Navy football team has honored the Jolly Rogers. In 1962, Roger Staubach and the Mids wore a Jolly Rogers-inspired helmet design in a 34-14 rout of the Cadets at Philadelphia’s Municipal Stadium.

The Navy football uniform’s color blocking for the Army-Navy game mimics the iconic color of the Jolly Rogers aircraft.

The neck of the jersey represents the Jolly Rogers tail design and incorporates the dark navy color and Jolly Rogers insignia.

The uniform collar stripe is a direct reference to the classic stripe found on the top edge of the tail fin.

The Navy wordmark is inspired by the wordmark found on the side of the aircraft, and the uniform numbers model the aircraft’s side number on the fuselage and trailing edge tab on the wings.

The sleeves have the traditional Jolly Roger angled stripe with a total of 9 chevrons (jersey + pants) on each side. This pays tribute to the nine aircraft flown throughout the squadron’s history.

“Fear the Bones” is incorporated into the inner collar as a discoverable detail.

The locker brand draws inspiration from the iconic VF-84 tail fin design with a drop shadow “JR” (Jolly Rogers) composition.

On the side panels of the pants, the micro-text pays tribute to the six Jolly Rogers squadrons that have exemplified what it means to wear the skull and crossbones.

The helmet design is a culmination of past and present Jolly Rogers aviator helmets.

Featuring the iconic VF-84 helmet design, chevrons are incorporated with the skull on the sides of the helmet as well as chevrons representing the nine different aircraft that Jolly Rogers has flown in the helmet’s stripes.

Jolly Roger’s slogan Fear the Bones is on the helmet’s bumper.

A white basecoat with reflective qualities was used to represent the VFA-103’s helmet.