Capitals Jersey Timeline
A full list of each of the Washington Capitals uniforms throughout team history
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1974-75Â

The team wears red, white and blue uniforms during its inaugural year in the NHL.Â

The Capitals wore white pants for the first four road games of the 1974-75 season. They were replaced by the blue pants that would persist through the rest of this jersey's usage.

1980-81Â

The "WASHINGTON" above the Capitals wordmark logo is reduced in size.Â

1983-84Â

The number of stars on the sleeves is reduced from five to four. It returns to five two years later.

June 22, 1995Â

The team introduces new logos and uniforms with a blue, black and bronze color scheme.Â

1995-96Â

The first year of the blue, black and bronze jerseys. The word "CAPITALS" appears below the eagle on the home and road jerseys.

1997-98Â

The word "CAPITALS" only appears on the road jerseys. A black third jersey is added and is worn for the first time Jan. 25, 1998. The jersey, which is worn nine times during the season, has arched letters for the nameplate.Â

2000-01Â

The black jersey replaces the road blue jersey and the team now only wears two jerseys. The nameplate letters on the black jersey are no longer arched.Â

2003-04Â

The NHL switches to wear dark jerseys at home and white jerseys on the road.

June 22, 2007Â

The team introduces new logos and changes its colors and uniforms back to red, white and blue.Â

The primary logo draws upon the team's original jerseys, but with a fresh, bold font. The letters lean forward, representing the team's commitment to innovation and forward thinking. The three stars represent Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. - the three main geographic areas in the Capitals' market - and align with hockey tradition, as each game's top players are named its three stars. The letter t, like in the original uniforms, depicts a hockey stick, with a puck at the end.

Red, white and blue brought the Capitals back to their original colors, in shades that align with those of the American flag and symbolically strengthen the Capitals' ties to their home city of Washington, D.C., the nation's capital.Â

The shoulder patch incorporates imagery from the Capitals' most recent uniforms, which featured an eagle and the Capitol dome. Here those Washington, D.C., icons come together in a distinctive look. The eagle's wings are raised at its sides and help form the shape of a "W," representing Washington, D.C., the world's most powerful and influential city.

January 1, 2011

For the 2011 NHL Winter Classic in Pittsburgh, the team hearkened back to the original 1974 white jerseys, with this replica throwback.

The primary color for the uniform is white and very closely resembles the team's original jersey, worn from 1974-75 through 1994-95. The original Capitals wordmark is featured on the front of the jersey with six stars above it and five stars beneath the numbers on each sleeve.Â

Unlike the original uniforms, which featured blue pants, the Capitals wore red pants and red helmets. This jersey would later become the team's third alternate jersey, worn on the road through the 2014-15 season.

January 1, 2015

The 2015 Capitals NHL Winter Classic jersey includes many elements from Capitals jerseys worn during the past five decades. The "Capitals" wordmark on the front of the jersey has been a hallmark of Caps jerseys throughout the past four decades, even through several redesigns. The stars on the front are also an element seen on many Capitals jerseys through the years, including the Capitals current jersey.

The primary color for the Capitals' NHL Winter Classic uniform is vintage deep red to symbolize hockey's deep roots in Washington. The stripes on the shoulders, waist and legs bring in elements of Washington professional hockey jerseys from the 1930's, predating the Capitals' formation in the 1970s. A large "W" on the front of the jersey, offset in blue to contrast the white Capitals wordmark, offers a unique look never seen before on Capitals jerseys. A large "W" on the front of the jersey is offset in blue to contrast the white Capitals wordmark and features a silhouette of the Washington Monument, offering a unique look never seen before on Capitals jersey in franchise history.

The Washington Capitals debuted a new third jersey modeled after the team's original red jersey, to be worn during select home games starting with the 2015-16 season.

The primary color for the uniform is red and closely resembles the team's jersey worn from 1974-75 through 1994-95. The original Capitals wordmark is featured on the front of the jersey with six stars above it and five stars beneath the numbers on each sleeve.

The Capitals wore blue pants featuring red & white stars and stripes down the sides, along red helmets with these third jerseys. The new third jersey replaced the white third jersey the Capitals wore from 2011-12 to 2014-15.

Inspired by the Capitals' classic identity and fused with the most advanced uniform technologies available in the new adidas adizero Authentic NHL uniforms, the special edition Washington Capitals' 2018 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series uniform is a salute to the game's locale - Annapolis, MD. Marking the first time in Capitals history the team will wear a navy-blue uniform, the overall design aesthetic pays homage to the U.S. Navy and highlights key elements of the Capitals' identity. Each element of the Capitals' visual identity has been emphasized to create bolder, more visually pronounced uniforms that are meant to make a statement and be more recognizable in the larger outdoor stadium setting.

The Capitals' special edition crest design centers around the team's informal nickname, CAPSâ¢, and is stylistically aligned to the team's current wordmark. Additionally, the crest incorporates the three stars from the team's primary moniker, which also honors the Washington, D.C. city flag. The pants feature a new contemporary "W" with three stars of the city flag, which also serves as a subtle nod to the Washington monument.

Additional design details include a bolder one-color version of the Capitals' numbers for better visibility in the outdoor stadium setting. As a historic tribute to team's hometown, the numbers are accentuated with a perforated pattern based on Pierre L'Enfant's original grid plan for the city of Washington D.C. A strong white shoulder yoke serves as a nod to the classic stars & stripes from the clubs' past uniforms and the thick red stripes and hem stripes evoke thoughts of the city flag of Washington D.C.

Inspired by the Capitals' classic identity and fused with the most advanced uniform technologies available in the new adidas adizero Authentic NHL uniforms, the special edition Washington Capitals' 2018 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series uniform is a salute to the game's locale - Annapolis, MD. Marking the first time in Capitals history the team will wear a navy-blue uniform, the overall design aesthetic pays homage to the U.S. Navy and highlights key elements of the Capitals' identity. Each element of the Capitals' visual identity has been emphasized to create bolder, more visually pronounced uniforms that are meant to make a statement and be more recognizable in the larger outdoor stadium setting.

Inspired by the Capitals' classic identity and fused with the most advanced uniform technologies available in the new adidas adizero Authentic NHL uniforms, the special edition Washington Capitals' 2018 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series uniform is a salute to the game's locale - Annapolis, MD. Marking the first time in Capitals history the team will wear a navy-blue uniform, the overall design aesthetic pays homage to the U.S. Navy and highlights key elements of the Capitals' identity. Each element of the Capitals' visual identity has been emphasized to create bolder, more visually pronounced uniforms that are meant to make a statement and be more recognizable in the larger outdoor stadium setting.

"We are excited to unveil the Capitals Reverse Retro jersey that showcases a significant era of our team history," said Monumental Sports & Entertainment Chief Marketing Officer Hunter Lochmann. "Working closely with adidas and the NHL, our goal was to pay tribute to our 97-98 team, refreshing the jersey design and, most importantly, following through on the feedback from our fanbase by reinstating the iconic Screaming Eagle. We are extremely proud of the Capitals Reverse Retro jersey and look forward to seeing its debut on-ice during the 2020-21 season."

adidas worked closely with the NHL and each of the league's 31 teams to design a Reverse Retro jersey representing unique and historical moments in each club's history, while refreshing the color and design combination for an all-new presentation. The adidas Reverse Retro program creates a new formula to showcase the passion of the fans. The overarching design theme during adidas' two-year-long process was to mine each team's jersey archive and team colors, remixing them to create something new and never seen before. With that in mind, adidas created uniquely distinct and desirable jerseys that incorporated inverted team colors.

The large W on the front of the jersey serves as a tribute to Washington, D.C., with the Washington monument structure peaking in the middle of the W. The "W" stands alone as a Capital Letter to symbolize the strength of the nation's Capital. The color scheme is aligned with the United States of America's flag; with each color also representing attributes displayed by Capitals fans: red stands for dedication, white represents loyalty and blue honors community. The Three Stars represent Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia.

The 2022 Reverse Retro jersey is reminiscent of the Capitals jerseys introduced in 1995, featuring a blue, black and bronze color scheme. The Reverse Retro jersey also features the screaming eagle design, which was introduced in 2020 as the team's first Reverse Retro jersey with the red color scheme.

The jersey is a marriage of Capitals first ever third jersey, which became the road jersey in 2000, and the original rebrand from the team's jerseys with the screaming eagle. The blue, black and bronze color scheme with the screaming eagle was first introduced by the Capitals on June 22, 1995.

The full jersey kit includes an all-black look - black helmet, gloves, and socks accented with white, blue, and bronze accent stripes. The neckline of the jersey features the original orange NHL crest. Goaltenders Darcy Kuemper and Charlie Lindgren each had custom masks and pads created to match.

For the Capitals 2023 NHL Stadium Series jersey, adidas extended the size of the Washington Capitals' beloved current secondary logo, known as the 'Weagle,' from seam to seam on the front of the jersey and onto the sleeves, where the tips of the wings meet the player numbers. The three bands of color in the sleeve are a nod to the oversize, three-color banded hem on the inaugural Capitals' sweater. The two horizontal laces represent the two red bands on the D.C. flag. The inside neck features the 'W' and stars crest from the Capitals' 2018 NHL Stadium Series jersey.