Logos and uniforms of the San Francisco 49ers The logo and uniforms of the San Francisco 49ers have evolved since their inception in 1946 . The Early Years ( 1946 - 63 ) . The 49ers changed uniform designs and color combinations quite often in their first eighteen years of existence . From the team ' s inception in 1946 through the early 1960s , the San Francisco 49ers usually wore red , white or silver helmets , white or light - gray pants , and cardinal red ( home ) and white ( road ) jerseys . The 49ers ' original logo was a mustached 49er gold miner from the 1849 California Gold Rush , dressed in plaid pants and a red shirt , jumping in midair with his hat falling off , and fired pistols in each hand : one nearly shooting his foot , and the other pistol forming the word " Forty - Niners " from its smoke . By the mid - 1950s this logo showed the prospector jumping against a backdrop of Kezar Stadium , the team ' s home from 1946 to 1970 . Original uniforms consisted of plain red jerseys with white front and back numerals and no trim . Pants were white , and leather helmets were in several colors . In 1950 , concurrent with the team ' s admission to the NFL , the red jersey gained three parallel white stripes on the sleeves ; this feature , with modifications and updates , has been implemented on the team ' s jersey ever since . Also around this time , the helmets were gradually changed over to a silver - colored plastic . An entirely new look appeared in 1953 ; helmets were red with a silver center stripe . White pants were given a thin red - black - red tri - stripe . For the 1954 season the jersey numerals gained black trim that created a " dropshadow " effect . These jerseys and pants served as the model for the team ' s " throwback " uniform in its championship 1994 season . Red socks included three white stripes . In 1956 the helmet was changed to solid white and the black outlining and shadowing effect was eliminated from the jersey numerals . The pants striping became solid red . In 1957 the 49er uniform was altered again ; helmets were made gold , accompanied by beige - gold , unstriped pants . Jerseys and socks remained the same , but in accordance with the NFL ' s 1957 rule ordering primary - colored " home " and light " road " shirts for each team , the 49ers debuted white road jerseys with three parallel sleeve stripes ; the middle stripe was red , the top and bottom gold . This striping was replaced in 1958 by a wide red crescent shoulder stripe . So - called " TV Numbers " appeared on both jerseys in the same year . Throughout the middle and late 1950s , and the early 1960s , the 49ers were one of just a few NFL teams ( the Chicago Bears were most prominent ) to use helmets made by Chicago - based Wilson Sporting Goods ; these helmets were of slightly different shape than those made by the Riddell company , which for more than a half - century have been a prominent supplier of NFL team headgear . Yet another radical alteration was made to the 49er uniform in 1960 . Appearing were silver helmets with three widely - spaced red stripes ; the center stripe was thicker . Home jerseys were unchanged , but road jerseys featured a new dual crescent shoulder stripe in what is usually called the " UCLA " style . An alternate logo was designed in the 1960s featuring a shield - shaped crest formed from the number " 49 " , with a football in the upper right quadrant and " SF " in the lower left quadrant . In 1962 the helmet was redesigned to feature a red - white - red triple center stripe ( the white middle stripe was wider ) . The earliest version of San Francisco ' s current primary logo , an intertwined white " SF " within the center of a red oval , also debuted in the 1962 helmet design . By 1972 - 73 the oval was slightly smaller in size and gained a black border . A More Standard Look ( 1964 - 88 ) . The team ' s colors then changed in 1964 . All silver elements were changed to what was called " Forty - Niner Gold ; " helmets were gold , with the same striping and logo . New beige - gold pants with a red - white - red tri - stripe in the same style as the helmet were introduced . The scarlet red jerseys kept the traditional three red sleeve stripes , but road jerseys abandoned the previous dual crescent shoulder stripes in favor of three red sleeve stripes ( the converse of the home jersey ) . The red home jerseys had white block numbers , three white parallel stripes on the sleeves , and smaller white block " TV " numbers above these stripes on the upper sleeve , with the color scheme reversed for the white road jersey . The red elliptical helmet logo was made slightly smaller in 1971 - 72 and received a black border . On very few occasions from 1971 - 1973 the 49ers , when traveling to play against teams in warm - weather venues that wore white jerseys at home such as the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints , would don thinner mesh - fabric red jerseys that were missing the usual sleeve stripes and TV numbers . There was also a white version of this warm - weather jersey that was worn on even rarer occasions . The 1964 uniform ' s basic design would be worn for practically the next thirty seasons with only some minor changes and adjustments , such as a gradual change over from sans - serif to serifed block numerals from 1970 – 74 and a switch from thin stripes to a very thick pant striping in 1976 ( during which white jerseys were also worn at home for most of that season ) . The uniform ensemble of red and white jerseys , and beige - gold pants with thick striping would be worn until 1995 ( as well as for throwback games from 2002 – 08 ) . Starting in 1984 , there was a change in the numeral font ( the number " 2 " was made a squarer block numeral ) , along with the gradual narrowing of the jersey striping . For the 1986 season , the 49ers incorporated a special 40th anniversary patch sewn on the pants along the side of the hips . 1989 - 93 . In 1989 , the 49ers ' jerseys were further slightly altered with the stripes on the sleeves being made less bold and arranged closer together ( sleeves on NFL jerseys began to get shorter and closer to the shoulder around this time ) . As for the team ' s helmet logo , black outlining on the intertwined " SF " was also added in 1989 . For the 1990 season , concurrent with the rest of the teams in the NFL , the 49ers incorporated a small NFL Shield logo sewn on the bottom of the jersey ' s collar for the first time ( this would be replaced with a redesigned " NFL Equipment " Shield logo for the 2002 season ) . Prior to the 1991 season , the 49ers announced a prototype for a new logo and helmet design . Instead of the traditional " SF " oval , this new logo featured a stylized " 49ers " in white with black and red shadows , along with a red facemask . However , fan reaction was so overwhelmingly negative that the idea was scrapped the next day . The only carryover from the 1991 planned uniform change ( and the last significant change to the 1964 - 1995 uniform design ) was the switch from red socks with three white stripes to solid red socks . 1994 - 95 . During the 1994 season , many NFL teams wore " throwback uniform s " on occasional games ( beginning with week 3 of the season ) to celebrate the NFL ' s 75th anniversary ( a corresponding diamond - shaped 75th Anniversary patch was also worn by all teams ) . The 49ers chose to wear a version of their 1955 uniforms as their throwbacks , with simpler sans - serif block numerals that were outlined and shadowed in black ( the smaller TV numerals above the shoulder stripes however , were removed as they were non - existent on the original 1950s jerseys ) . White pants with thinner red - black - red striping were also worn , along with the old striped red socks ( the team later reverted to their regular solid red socks after receiving permission from the NFL to wear the uniforms for the rest of the season ) . The regular 1989 - 95 design gold helmet was worn with this uniform , as there was no logo on the 1955 helmet . The team first donned the 1955 throwback uniforms during their week 3 match against the Los Angeles Rams and the following week at home versus the Saints , with both being wins ( coincidentally , these were also the first two games Deion Sanders played after signing as a free - agent with the 49ers ) . The team then suffered an embarrassing 40 - 8 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles at home wearing their regular uniforms with gold pants , with Steve Young angrily being benched to prevent him getting injured . For the subsequent three games until their BYE week , the team again was scheduled to play games wearing the throwback uniforms with white pants and dropshadows , and all three games resulted in wins . As the 49ers embarked during the following weeks on what would eventually be a 10 - game winning streak that ultimately culminated in a Super Bowl XXIX victory , the team ( prompted both by the superstition of then coach George Seifert , as well as the preference of players ) petitioned the NFL to wear the throwback uniforms for the rest of the season , which was granted . The switch to solid red socks after the team ' s BYE week in the middle of the season marked this occurrence . In all the 49ers went 15 - 1 ( including the playoffs ) wearing the 1955 / 1994 throwback uniforms , ( the only loss being the regular season finale on the road at Minnesota , with the team wearing white jerseys and resting most of their starters for the playoffs ) . Meanwhile the 49ers went undefeated wearing the red jerseys of the throwback uniform . After winning Super Bowl XXIX however , the team was compelled to revert to wearing its regular 1964 - style uniforms ( 1991 revised design ) for the following 1995 season . 1996 : 50th Anniversary Uniform change . In 1996 , the 49ers celebrated their 50th anniversary by designing a commemorative jersey patch based on the earlier shield - crest logo . The team also debuted a substantially new uniform design , most notably changing the shade of red used in their jerseys from bright scarlet to a deeper , cardinal red . The smaller TV numerals were moved from the side of the upper sleeve above the sleeve striping to the top of the shoulderpads . Other new modifications to the uniform showed marked influence from the 1994 throwback uniforms : a black dropshadow effect ( along with gold trim ) was added to the jersey numerals ( which remained in the blocked serif style ) . Black trim was added on the sleeve stripes as well , which also now featured an updated oval " SF " logo . The team ' s helmet underwent a major redesign as well in 1996 . The updated oval logo ( now in cardinal red ) had a more stylized , " stretched " black border along with gold trimming , while the intertwined " SF " had thicker black bordering and shadows . For the helmet ' s color a shinier , more metallic gold was used , while the helmet striping was changed from red - white - red to black - cardinal - black . The old gray - colored facemask was also switched to a cardinal - red colored one . As in 1994 , the Niners donned white pants full - time for the 1996 season ( also wearing them for the 1997 season and 1998 preseason , ) though this time the pant stripes were marginally thicker and the colors were reversed to black - cardinal red - black ( matching the striping on the helmets ) . The socks remained solid - colored , though switched to the darker cardinal red . 1998 - 2008 . For the 1998 regular season opener , the team made a surprise switch back to gold pants , only this time to match the helmet it was a shinier , more metallic gold rather than the previous beige - matte gold of the past . The striping along the side of the pants remained black - cardinal red - black , though a thin gold trimming was added , along with further oval " SF " logos placed on both sides of the hip . The 1996 helmet and jersey design with the 1998 gold pants would be worn as the team ' s regular uniforms until the end of the 2008 season . From the 1980s until 2005 , the 49ers nearly always wore their white uniforms at home for their two preseason home games ( and thus usually wore white jerseys the whole preseason , ) while the team wore red for all eight regular season home games . Since 2006 , the 49ers have worn red jerseys for all home games including preseason . The team also is occasionally compelled to wear red on the road when visiting warm - weather opponents early in the season ( if that opponent elects to wear their white jerseys ) , or if an opponent ' s established home jersey is white , such as the Dallas Cowboys ( and on most occasions the Washington Redskins and Miami Dolphins ) . Starting in 2002 , the 49ers regularly used their 1980s - style ( 1989 version ) scarlet and beige - gold uniform as alternate uniforms for one or two home games ( usually for " Alumni Day " and around Christmas ) . In all , the team would wear the retro uniforms on eight different occasions : During the 2006 season , the 60th anniversary of the team ' s inception , a commemorative patch was on the jerseys for all games . For the 2007 season , the 49ers began wearing black cleats , following a growing trend among many teams in the NFL . 2009 uniform change . On February 17 , 2009 , 49ers . com officially announced new uniforms to be presented to the public during 49ers Draft Day events on April 25 , 2009 . The showcased design would be adopted for the 2009 NFL season . The uniform change rumors were confirmed by the team ' s chief operating officer Andy Dolich at the 49ers ' State of the Franchise . When asked when they were going to change their uniforms " back to normal , " Dolich replied stating , " Stay tuned . Don ’ t be surprised if you see championship colors back . " During the design process of the new 49ers uniforms , considerable input was received from 49ers players , coaches , team alumni and fan focus groups which occurred over a period of two years ( 2006 – 08 ) , and was then conveyed to NFL Equipment manufacturer Reebok . The uniforms were revealed on April 25 , 2009 , during the first day of the draft . 49ers players Patrick Willis , Josh Morgan , Dashon Goldson , Joe Staley , and Moran Norris ( each accompanied by 49ers alumni ) displayed the new uniforms at the 49ers draft party . The new uniforms are very similar to the classic design , albeit with several significant changes . The sleeve stripes are now set at an angle to accommodate the even shorter sleeves of modern jerseys , ( though the stripes appear straight and parallel to the ground when worn by the players themselves ) . Because of less room along the side of the sleeves , the secondary " TV " numerals have been moved to the top of the shoulder pads ( as in the 1996 - 2008 jerseys ) . Meanwhile a " 49ers " wordmark ligature has been included below the collar on the front of the jersey , just below the NFL Equipment shield . The shade of red in the new jerseys is arguably slightly darker than the bright scarlet of the classic 1980s jerseys , but significantly lighter than the cardinal / crimson red used in the 1996 - 2008 designs . The new helmets retained the shinier metallic gold shell color and 1996 - 2008 stretched oval " SF " logo design ( though the oval was in the new brighter shade of red ) . However , the helmet stripes were reverted to the classic red - white - red order , and the face mask returned to the more traditional color of neutral gray . When the new uniform was debuted the pants remained made of the same lustrous gold material of the 1998 - 2008 uniform , but by training camp and the preseason the pants were toned down to a duller sheen of flat gold , similar to the 1980s pants but more closely matching the shade of gold used in the new helmets rather than the old khaki / tan . The pants striping is also in the classic red - white - red order , though this time in a more standard , medium width and not the thick striping width of the 1976 - 1995 pants . Players had complained that the old thick pant stripes on the throwbacks were too restrictive to movement . The new pants also feature zippers along the front , an innovation over the traditional laces used . The team ' s socks retain a solid red look ( and not the throwback uniform style that had three white stripes ) , again in the new brighter red team color . Since the 2009 season , the team has chosen not to have any " throwback " games as in recent years ( 2002 – 08 ) , as the new uniform is consistent with the " classic " 49ers look of the 1980s . However , there may be retro games in the near future that instead incorporate the red and silver / white designs from the 1950s and 60s .