The Chicago Blackhawks' drive for their sixth Stanley Cup in franchise history finds them in a familiar place this is their third trip to the finals in the past six years. Their on-ice look is also familiar. For six decades now, the Blackhawks have been skating around in what many believe to be the best-looking uniforms in profe sional sports. Bold and memorable, red, black, and white, accompanied by horizontal stripes lots of them. Originally called Blackhawks, the team became known as Black Hawks two words very early on. The Blackhawks officially became Blackhawks again in 1986 and have been called such ever since. The team first took the ice on Nov. 17, 1926. That night, the 'Hawks wore black and white uniforms that featured a Native American head crest logo within a circle, joined by a series of horizontal black and white stripes. This look came to define the team for the first several years of its existence. MORE: The design of the Blackhawks' Brendan Smith Jersey Native American head insignia is credited to Irene Castle fashion icon, famed Broadway and silent film ballroom dancer, and wife of Blackhawks founder Major Frederic McLaughlin. Her logo endures, even if their marriage did not their ugly, contentious divorce made headlines in 1937. The following year she sued the major after the he allegedly had the heating supply to her home cut off, with one news report stating that even her three pet dogs must wear sweaters to keep warm. Evolving from their signature monochromatic beginnings, the team introduced red into their visual mix in 1934. The following year, the Black Hawks stepped it up with a set of dazzling new uniforms, as noted in the Oct. 15, 1935 Christian Science Monitor: MORE: Buckskin or tan was in play for this single season. The green, brown, red and yellow within the Indian head remains to this day. But it took a National League umpire to make the look enduring and (more or le s) complete. Bill Stewart a Major League Baseball ump and NHL referee was named coach of the Hawks before the 1937-38 season. He led the team to a Stanley Cup win that year, but his great visual legacy lives on even now. Stewart created the teams new uniforms a snazzy combination of red, black and white, accompanied by an audacious multi-striped barber pole pattern. They were the first predominantly red sweaters in team history, and bold striping has been a Chicago hockey hallmark ever since. The rest of the league took notice. The Nov. 12, 1937 New York Herald Tribune declared that: The Hawks brought new uniforms in addition to a new manager. The somber black and white had been supplanted by a snappy regalia of red, white, and black. More than three quarters of a century later, Chicagos signature look is both firmly established and widely admired. Bill Stewart was unceremoniously fired after two seasons at the helm the first of which resulted in an unlikely Stanley Cup. Irene Castle was known as a tirele s advocate for animal rights who died in 1969. An unlikely duo, their contributions to the visual culture of the Blackhawks live on. Todd Radom is a contributor on logos, design and visual history for Sporting News. He is a graphic artist who has been designing logos and uniforms for profe sional teams for more than 20 years. Gavin White Jersey