The Miami Dolphins are an American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The Dolphins play their home games at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
The team colors of the Miami Dolphins are aqua, coral, white and navy blue. So while green is not an official team color, many people associate the Dolphins with green due to the aqua color being a greenish-blue teal hue. However, the exact shades have changed over the years, leading to some confusion over whether the Dolphins are actually green or blue.
Brief History of Dolphins Uniforms
The Miami Dolphins joined the AFL as an expansion team in 1966. The original team colors were aqua and coral. When they joined the NFL in the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, the shade of aqua became darker.
In 1997, the team unveiled a new logo and colors. The darker aqua was lightened substantially to a more greenish-blue teal. The navy blue was also lightened. This updated color scheme sparked debate among fans about whether the Dolphins should be considered a green or blue team.
In 2013, the Dolphins unveiled a modernized logo and new uniforms. The aqua color was changed again to a more medium, blue-green teal shade. However, many fans still associate the Dolphins with the brighter greenish aqua of the 1997-2012 uniforms.
Breakdown of the Miami Dolphins Colors
Here is a detailed breakdown of the official team colors of the Miami Dolphins over time:
| Years | Aqua | Coral | White | Navy Blue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966-1996 | Dark Aqua | Coral | White | Royal Blue |
| 1997-2012 | Greenish Aqua | Coral | White | Aqua Blue |
| 2013-Present | Medium Aqua | Coral | White | Navy Blue |
As seen in the table, the aqua color has gone through several shades over time. The 1997-2012 uniforms featured the greenest aqua shade. Since 2013, the color has shifted back to more of a blue-green teal.
How Lighting Affects the Dolphins Colors
The perception of the Miami Dolphins colors is also impacted significantly by lighting conditions. Under bright sunlight, the aqua often appears more blue. But in shaded or indoor conditions, the aqua can look greener.
Photography and video lighting play a big role as well. Under certain lights, the aqua will pop brightly, taking on a neon greenish hue. Other lighting dims the green and accentuates the blue undertones.
This chameleon-like nature of the aqua often makes it hard to tell if the Dolphins colors are actually green or blue! The aqua uniforms are essentially a blue-green teal that shifts between greenish or bluish depending on the lighting environment.
Fan Perception of Dolphins Colors
Among Miami Dolphins fans, there are definitely differences of opinion on whether the team colors are green or blue!
Older fans who grew up with the original 1966 uniforms tend to think of the Dolphins as a blue team. The aqua back then was a darker, muddier blue-green with more blue tint.
Younger fans familiar with the 1997-2012 uniforms see the team as green. That era featured the brightest, most neon-green aqua the team has ever used.
For newer fans since the 2013 rebrand, the Dolphins are neither strongly green nor blue, but somewhere in between with the medium aqua tone.
Regional perception comes into play as well. In South Florida, the blue ocean associations make locals more likely to see the Dolphins as a blue team. In other parts of the country, the bright greenish aqua stands out more to fans.
Surveys of Fan Opinion
Several unofficial online polls have surveyed Dolphins fans over the years on whether they think the team colors are green or blue. The results show a mixed set of opinions:
– In a 2002 poll, 68% said the Dolphins are blue and 32% said green.
– A 2012 poll on social media resulted in 51% responding green and 49% blue.
– When asked in 2021, a slight majority of 57% considered the Dolphins a green team.
So while the aqua color has gotten generally greener over time, fans remain divided on whether to classify the Dolphins as a green or blue team. It really depends on each individual fan’s perception and interpretation of the aqua color.
Expert Analysis
Graphic design experts tend to classify the Miami Dolphins team colors as follows:
– The original 1966 aqua was a “dark cyan” – essentially a deep blue-green.
– The 1997 updated aqua was a “bright teal” – containing both green and blue tones but leaning more green.
– Since the latest 2013 rebrand, the aqua is considered a “medium teal” – a balance of blue-green.
So according to color theory, the proper terminology for the Dolphins aqua is teal – denoting a blue-green hybrid. This supports the notion that the team cannot be defined as purely green nor blue.
Aqua in the Animal Kingdom
Looking at the animal kingdom also provides some insight. While dolphins are typically shown as gray or blue-gray, there is diversity in dolphin skin colors. Some species, like the South Asian river dolphin, have more greenish-brownish skin.
The broader group of aquatic animals that dolphins belong to – cetaceans – display a wide range of skin tones. Some whales exhibit a distinctly greenish tint, like the Greenland right whale. Meanwhile other cetaceans like blue whales are a true blue color.
So while greens and blues both occur in aqua mammals, most dolphins remain on the blue side. This suggests the Dolphins team name fits best with blue as the primary uniform color over green.
Conclusion
In the 60+ year history of the Miami Dolphins franchise, the team colors have gone through several shade variations – from deep aquatic blues to bright greenish teals. This has resulted in an ongoing debate among fans about whether the Dolphins are really a green or blue team.
The truth is that their signature aqua color lies somewhere in between – a blue-green teal that shifts tones depending on lighting conditions. Graphic experts classify it as neither strictly green nor blue, but a blend of the two.
While individual fans will always have differing color perceptions, the Dolphins are likely best identified as a blue team, with the aqua providing a unique greenish shade to their identity. The blue ocean and mammal associations suit the team’s name and region. But the greenish tint gives them a eye-catching flair.
So in summary, the Miami Dolphins are technically neither green nor blue – they are teal! But of the two, blue remains the closer match as the base color for this aquatic-themed franchise. The green provides some extra vibrance and distinction from other blue pro sports teams. Together, the aqua and coral create a colorful, tropical palette fitting for a Miami team.
