So can anyone tell me a little bit of history behind official clothing/equipment. Maybe how officials started dressing, how it evolved and if there is any reasoning behind it. Like stripes? ectect.

1) Knickers
2) Stirrups to Socks
3) Striped Shirts
4) Flag
5) Beanbag
6) Hat - Black Piping and White

Flag was invented by Dwight "Dike" Beede the head coach of Youngstown College )now Youngstown State University. Up to that time a horn or other sound making device was used to indicate a foul. Beede's wife sewed the flag for him and the rest is history.

Just looked up the whole story on the flag. See link below.


http://www.ysu.edu/sports/traditions/penaltyflag.htm

In Canada our officials manual still instructs us on the use of the horn.

Although I would like to know about the stirrups, because in Canada we still wear them, and also what pre-empted the change to the one-piece sock??

When I started in 1989 we used stirrups, and the NCAA used a once piece sock. I quit in 1993 and came back in 2001. By that time stirrups were ancient history. I'm glad.

However, the official's manual has not been updated more recently than the text in the white book that describes how to signify that a foul has occured.

When my dad officiated his flag was red. I suppose that flags changed to yellow with the advent of TV and yellow was high visibility.

In Canada we still use red flags. Well sorta, they're like a neon orange.

Do they have a maple leaf in the middle?

History of Football
 

Digging and found the History of Football

http://www.thehistoryoffootball.com/

History of Football
 

Digging and found the History of Football.

The football field for all levels, High School through the Pros, is the same size.

http://www.thehistoryoffootball.com/
http://inventors.about.com/library/i...blfootball.htm

http://sportsvl.com/ball/gridiron.htm

[Edited by Green on Nov 10th, 2004 at 05:17 PM]

Wasn't there a time (this is NFL now) where everybody wore white hats?

A good place to look is books on the history of the game. You can almost always find shots of officials in the shots of star players, which seem to be very prevalent in historical books (and they're cool to look at). You can see how styles have changed over the years. Most of the photos are black and white, obviously, but you can see the changes.

Sometimes you'll see old AFL game films and their officials had red stripes instead of black.

Yes, I know a while back every referee wore a white hat, the only reason I know this is from watching old highlights.

I think the Ref wore a black hat. All others were in white. I don't think that was all that far back.

Another thing the CFL stuck with, a black hat for the referee. At all other levels, the ref wears a white hat.

Now our white hats have black brims and black piping, did the American white hats origionally have this, or is this just a Canadian adaptation??

When I got in - 1973 --
We used a RED and WHITE flag -- that was intertwined.
They changed it to a yellow one a few years after that -- maybe one year.
Also the pylon was a RED flag -- on a spring.

Look at the movie - "Remember the Titans".
The hats the officials are wearing is ridiculous. I played during that time - and they NEVER wore hats like that.
They looked like they sewed the stripe shirt material on the hat. The stripes are REAL wide on the hat.
Then in one part of the movie -- the ref is seen wearing a solid white hat -- but other times - it's that stupid stripe one.