Super Bowl 2021 team colors include red, but not same shade

Corrections & Clarifications: This story has been updated to reflect a change to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ official shade of red. The rating has been changed to Missing Context.

The claim: The 55th Super Bowl marks the first time that both team logos have the same primary color

The Kansas City Chiefs will face off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on Feb. 7. 

The big game will look slightly different this year as the stadium will only be about a quarter full due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the game will mark a historic first for the NFL with the Buccaneers being the first team to play the Super Bowl at its home stadium in the 55 years the game has been held. 

It will also be the first time both Super Bowl teams will have the same exact primary logo color, one viral social media post claims. 

“The 55th Super Bowl will be the first Super Bowl where the primary color in both team logos is the same exact color: Chiefs Red is Buccaneers Red. Pantone 186C,” reads a Jan. 24 post by the Facebook page NFL memes, which was also shared to Twitter by Darren Rovell, a sports business reporter for The Action Network. 

Below the text are two side-by-side images of the teams’ red logos. The post has over 1,000 shares and 4,000 reactions.

The NFL memes page does not have a way of being contacted. USA TODAY has reached out to Rovell for comment.

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Logos are nearly the same red

It’s actually not true that this year’s Super Bowl marks the first time both teams will have the same primary color.

The Chiefs‘ red is Pantone 186C, according to Team Color Codes.

The Buccaneers used the same shade — until a 2020 redesign.

The Buccaneers confirmed in a statement to USA TODAY the team now uses Pantone 187C.

The team logo has been altered a few times over the years. From 2014 to 2019, team logos and marks used Pantone 186C. The current shade of red was rolled out with the 2020 uniforms.

The Kansas City Chiefs logo was designed by team founder Lamar Hunt, who sketched it on a napkin when he was on a flight from Dallas to Kansas City, according to 1000logos.net. The logo is an arrowhead design that overlaps “KC” in red and is surrounded by a black border.

When the Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers met in 2020 for Super Bowl LIV, both teams also had a primary color of red in their logo, however, the colors were the same one shade apart, USA TODAY reported: Pantone 186C for Kansas City and Pantone 187C for San Francisco.

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Our ruling: Missing context

The claim that the 55th Super Bowl will be the first time where the primary shade in both team logos is the same exact color is MISSING CONTEXT. While the logo color of both teams are similar, they are no longer exactly the same. The Buccaneers use Pantone 187C and the Chiefs use Pantone 186C. The Buccaneers used 186C in their logos, but changed it in 2020.

Our fact-check sources:

• Team Color Codes, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Colors
• Team Color Codes,  Kansas City Chiefs Colors
• Sportslogos.net, April 7, “A look At The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Logo History“
• 1000logos.net, Dec. 1, Kansas City Chiefs Logo
• Sports Logo History, Kansas City Chiefs Primary Logo
• FanDuel, Jan. 25, “Buccaneers Get First Choice of Super Bowl Uniform“
• USA TODAY, Feb. 2, 2020, “Super Bowl: See the uniforms the Chiefs and 49ers will wear“

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