Quote:
Black and gold are for Steelers, all of Pittsburgh
By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI Associated Press Writer
Updated: 01/23/2009 01:18:54 PM EST
PITTSBURGH—Black and gold. It decorates Pittsburgh’s hilly neighborhoods and adorns the city’s flag. Steelers fans at Heinz Field turn winter days brighter with black and gold Terrible Towels.
And in a national oddity, all three of Pittsburgh’s sports teams use the colors.
For more than 100 years, black and gold have symbolized Pittsburgh almost as much as the iconic images of the smoky steel town. Drawn from the family coat of arms of William Pitt, the Lord of Chatham, for whom the city was named, the colors have evolved into a source of pride for Pittsburgh’s residents.
Unlike other cities nationwide in which each team has its own colors, the Steelers, the Pirates and the Penguins—who are deeply connected to Pittsburgh—all sport the black and gold.
Each adopted the colors at a different time, finally coalescing in 1980 after the Pirates clinched the World Series and the Steelers the Super Bowl. The victories made Pittsburgh the city of champions just as it suffered debilitating economic losses caused by the collapse of the steel industry.
"It’s just another thing that makes the city of Pittsburgh unique," said Jim Trdinich, spokesman of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Pittsburgh was officially named in 1758 for William Pitt, who as secretary of state made key decisions that helped British forces in the colonies successfully capture from the French the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers.
Just over 140 years later, Pittsburgh’s council decided that the city flag would use the black and gold—really more of a yellow—from the Pitt family’s coat of arms.
In 1933, a new football team adopted those colors as its own, even emblazoning Pittsburgh’s crest—also borrowed from William Pitt’s coat of arms—on its jerseys. The only year the team’s players wore different colors was in 1943, when they wore green and white during a brief merger with the Philadelphia Eagles that also saw them renamed the Steagles.
In 1948, the Pirates make the switch from their red, white and blue uniforms to black and gold, and in 1980 the Penguins followed suit.
Today, the colors are not only associated with the city, but characterize it as well, said Anne Madarasz, director of the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh.
"The black comes to the root of our character, we’re hard workers ... we’re jobs that you can see the result of," Madarasz said, referring to the pride native Pittsburghers have for the heavy industries that put their city on the map. "It becomes the aura of those teams, but also the character of the city."
http://www.sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=9u0gjc4vl1ca1deh9zhi
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a324/martin_fierro/Pittsburgh/steelers_jersey_1933-34.jpg
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Pittsburgh’s goin’ to the Super Bowl! Here we go!
Now if the Pirates and the Penquins could just get their acts together…but I digress…
City of Pittsburgh coat-of-arms:
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z242/WBHenry/WilliamPitt.gif
The blazon: "On a field Sable, a fess chequay Argent et Azure, between three bezants bearing eagles rising with wings displayed and inverted Or. For crest, Sable a triple-towered castle masoned Argent." It is a variation of the arms of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham.
City of Pittsburgh flag:
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z242/WBHenry/Pittsburghflag.jpg
And for good measure, coat-of-arms for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh:
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z242/WBHenry/DioceseofPittsburgh-1.png
To see Bishop David A. Zubik’s coat-of-arms, use the following link:
Thanks for dropping by my neck of the woods, Michael!
And of the Episcopal Diocese (with error in quarter two; the fess should be Sable):
http://www.stbarnabaspa.org/_borders/pgh seal.jpg
And of course the unofficial city flag, which will be seen in great profusion over the coming week:
That last example can be found all over the Steeler Nation, not just in Pittsburgh!
http://anon.nasa-global.edgesuite.net/anon.nasa-global/ccvideos/steelers.asx
