Varsity letter A varsity letter ( or monogram ) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities . A varsity letter signifies that its winner was a qualified varsity team member , awarded after a certain standard was met . Description . The award letter is usually made in the colors and initials representing the school that the recipient attends . The letter patch is primarily constructed of chenille and felt materials . Standard sizes range from to . While and usually denote Junior Varsity achievements , to would denote plain ( Senior ) Varsity . The stitching style used for creating the chenille look is called a moss stitch , while the outlining sew down is called a chain stitch . The letters are made by both hand and automated machine depending on the company manufacturing the emblem . It is a wide spread commonality that the chenille made on hand machines produce a finer and tighter knap as compared to the automated machines . Automated machines tend to leave the chenille looking like a grid and are used in low quality emblems . History . It seems with the advent of organized sports , there was a need for uniforms . There was an additional need for identifications which was satisfied by the use of emblems or letters . In 1865 , the Harvard baseball team added an Old English ' H ' . The ' H ' was embroidered on the gray flannel shirt . The football team started to use the ' H ' in 1875 . It is interesting to note that for 25 years following the introduction in 1865 of the letter , it was the practice for the team captain to allow certain players who played in the most important games ( Yale or Princeton ) to keep the ' H ' jerseys as an award . If a player did not play in an important game , the player had to return the jersey at the end of the season . Awarding the ' H ' jersey may have been the birth of the varsity letter as an award . The letterman sweater was first regularly used by the 1891 " Nine " ( baseball ) and was black with a small Crimson ' H ' on the left breast . It is not known when the letter sweater came to high schools . The earliest example that VLAS has come across is in the 1911 yearbook of Phoenix Union High School , Arizona Territory . Pictured , not in football uniform , wearing a V - net sweater with the letter ' P ' on the left side , is a student in a group photo . The sweater seems to home for the award letter from the 1890s until the 1930s . Another award during the 20s and 30s was a stadium style blanket given as an award . In the 1930s , the letter award started to appear on leather sleeved , wool - bodied jackets . The jackets from the 30s were different in design than today ' s modern jacket . Variations and application . As a decorative clothing item , the varsity letter has a huge number of variations and no set standard is made to any school on how it should look . Chenille letters come in many different forms and shapes . Some institutions use Old English or script style , two or three letter monogram , 3D shading , chenille bordered or the traditional straight block style . Students generally receive only one actual letter , but can win the distinction multiple times . These additional designations are shown by adding embroidered sport insignias , modeled metal insert pins , or bars that are attached to the letter . Some schools may embroider non - athletic letters with their award title , such as " Academics " or " Arts ” . The chenille letter is traditionally placed on the left chest of the varsity jacket , which is also at times adorned with championship chenille patches showcasing the team or individual accomplishments . School mascot patches are also commonly used . In the last several years , Varsity Jackets have been adopted into the Hip Hop style of dress with companies such as Avirex , Phat Farm and Rocawear making their own variations .