Cities and Their Colors

During the Utah Coyotes' (that's what I'm calling them until they have a name) welcome event at the Delta Center, owner Ryan Smith confirmed that the team will be called "Utah" and cobranded with the Jazz in some way, but won't share the Jazz's colors.  He said that he doesn't want to be "like Pittsburgh" where all the teams share the same colors.  I can see where he wants the hockey team to have its own identity, but I also like Pittsburgh's approach where all three teams are black & gold.  Pittsburgh is the most notable example, but it's far from the only city whose teams match.

Pittsburgh (Black & Gold): It wasn't always the case in Pittsburgh, either.  When the Penguins first started, they wore powder blue and royal blue.  They didn't change to black & gold until January 1980 so that they could match the Steelers and Pirates, who were both the reigning World Champions at the time, as well as the city flag.  Black & gold aren't just the colors of Pittsburgh's teams.  They're the colors of the city.

New York (Blue & Orange): Much like Pittsburgh's city flag is black & gold, New York's city flag is blue & orange.  The Knicks, Islanders and Mets all share the color scheme.  The Mets wear blue & orange simply because they combined the colors of the Dodgers (blue) & Giants (orange), but it certainly worked out.  And, no, the Islanders don't play in the city, but they have "New York" in their name, so they still count.  New York also has the three rhyming teams (Mets, Jets, Nets).

Toronto (Blue): This is probably the most famous example after Pittsburgh of a city's teams sharing colors.  The University of Toronto is the Varsity Blues, which is why the Argonauts and Maple Leafs adopted the color.  Then the Blue Jays came to town and made it three blue teams.  The Raptors and Toronto FC are the only outliers.  In Toronto FC's case, it was deliberate.  They intentionally chose red as their primary color because all of the other Toronto teams are blue.

Washington (Red, White & Blue): With Washington, it certainly makes sense to have most of their teams match the U.S. flag.  The Redskins/Commanders have, of course, been doing their burgundy & gold thing as long as they've been a franchise.  What's funny about the other teams, though, is that the Capitals and Bullets/Wizards both started with red, white & blue, then introduced new colors and a new logo, only to go back to red, white & blue.  The Mystics are also red, white & blue, while the Nationals obviously are, as well.  DC United is the only outlier with its red & black.

Los Angeles (Black & Silver): When the LA Kings were founded, they wore purple & gold to match the Lakers.  Then they switched to their now-familiar black & silver when they traded for Wayne Gretzky.  That's while the Raiders were still playing in LA, so they ended up matching them instead.  Of course, that's no longer the case, and all of LA's teams have their own unique color schemes (the Angels, in fact, wear red because the Dodgers wear blue).

Seattle (Navy): Both the Seahawks & Mariners have had different color schemes throughout their history, but they've both settled on a look that's primarily navy with a shade of green as an accent color.  Then the Kraken showed up and gave Seattle a third team whose primary color is navy.  Seattle has almost two completely different distinct looks, since the Storm and Sounders both wear green, and when/if the Sonics are revived, so will their green & gold color scheme.

Las Vegas (Black): Las Vegas has been a professional sports town for less than 10 years, but all three of its Major League teams have something in common.  They all wear black.  For the Golden Knights, it's black & gold.  For the Raiders, it's black & silver.  For the Aces, it's black & red.  Will the A's follow suit or stick with the green & gold that has become their familiar look?

Even if they don't share colors, cities show the connection between their teams in other ways.  The New York Football Giants were named after the New York Baseball Giants.  The Chicago Bears were named after the Chicago Cubs.  St. Louis had the baseball & football Cardinals for a while.  When the WNBA started, Sacramento already had the Kings, so the WNBA team was the Monarchs (and used the monarch butterfly as the basis for their logo).  Houston kept the space thing going with the Rockets, Astros and Comets.  Here are some others not involving defunct WNBA teams:

Dallas (Stars): Texas is the Lone Star State, so this one makes sense.  The Cowboys' star logo is one of the most iconic in sports, and with the Stars, it's obviously their name!  The Rangers used to prominently feature a star as part of their logo, but they've since been relegated to either side of "Texas."  The Mavericks and FC Dallas have both incorporated a star, as well.  Only the Wings haven't.

Buffalo (Buffaloes): There are only two Major League professional teams in Buffalo.  And both the Bills & Sabres have incorporated a buffalo into their logo from the start.  The Bills' logo is just a buffalo.  Even the Triple-A baseball team is the Bisons.

Baltimore (Birds): Much like Buffalo, Baltimore only has two Major League pro teams.  They're both named after birds.  Both make sense.  The oriole is Maryland's state bird, and the Ravens are named after the Edgar Allan Poe poem.  So, it's probably more coincidence than anything deliberate, but it's still a theme.

Atlanta (Birds): Baltimore isn't the city that's got a thing for birds.  At one point, three of Atlanta's four Major League teams were named after different types of birds (Falcons, Hawks, Thrashers).  Now it's down to just the Falcons and Hawks, plus the non-bird Braves and Dream, as well as one of the 85 soccer teams called "United."  Some are suggesting the NHL could go back to Atlanta with an expansion team, though, so maybe we'll get another bird if that happens.

In the grand scheme of things, that's not a lot of teams from the city that share the same theme (whether it be similar names or an identical color scheme).  But it's enough of a sample size to say that it's common enough.  So, if Smith wanted to use the Jazz's colors for the Coyotes, too, it wouldn't be the first time.  He doesn't want to be "like Pittsburgh," but Pittsburgh has that coherent brand tying its three teams together.  So, it certainly wouldn't be a bad idea if he did.