I received my Calgary Stampeders decals in the mail and in a moment of confusion and anger, I was convinced that I had received the wrong decals. Sure the colors were right, but that isn’t the right tail! I was convinced the guy gave me SMU decals with Stampeders colors. I was wrong. Even though I had posted about this before I think, I forgot that for some time now the Stamps have been using the SMU style horse on their uniforms and a slightly different horse (the tail) for merchandise. The confusion comes from the fact that they use a different style logo for their merchandise. This is is a similar situation to the Chiefs two different logos, that they use for on the helmet and for art and merchandise. So how did this become so confusing? Who had it first? Isn’t it just a ford Mustang logo?

There is much controversy over who wore the pony logo first and whether it was an infringement of of the Ford Mustang Trademark. In fact there is an urban legend that the Ford Mustang was named after the football team. It is pretty much a fact that Ford came up with the logo first for their car that was first in production in 1964. It wasn’t until four years later that it turns out both SMU and the Stampeders both debuted a white pony on their helmets. As for who owns the trademark? Well Ford did try to trademark the horse logo in Canada, suing the Stamps and as best I can tell from a little research the two settled out of court and is more than likely the reason for the two different logos the Stamps use. Mustang has the Canadian Trademark for the “tail down pony” for clothing and other merchandise while Calgary can keep the tail up logo for the uniforms. This is why if you buy a jersey it will have the tail down logo, while the on-field jerseys the players wear has the same tail up logo that is on the helmet. It also seems that SMU and the Stampeders both have separate trademark registrations for what is essentially the same logo. Trademark law is not cut and dry.

Now For The Important Stuff: My Helmet

Growing up on the border I have always followed Canadian football and I adopted the Stamps as my favorite team, even though there are a couple tems within a couple hour drive. I just loved the Stamps uniforms at the time and even though their uniforms have gone down in quality and they ditched the helmet stripe, I still love the colors and logo. I will be seeing a few CFL games in person this year, as long as the season is delayed by a work stoppage. In anticipation of the upcoming season, barring any labor or labour dispute, I wanted to complete a full size Stampeders helmet. I ordered the decals, which turn out to be correct. Then I used the orange helmet I picked up at the flea market for twenty bucks. I went with a Krylon spray paint called True red for the shell, which is a deep red and pretty close to the helmets that the Stamps use. I would like to add a black nose bumper, neck bumper and chin strap to finish the look. I also need to find a decal of the CFL logo. I already added a Canadian Flag. I also still need to find some display space down here!