The New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl!

Today's column is written by SDB regular Dan Leonard. Dan is a passionate student of sports design and always provides us with great insight. Enjoy his take on the Saints and their trip to the big game:

By Dan Leonard

Many probably still can't believe it. As a native Pittsburgher, I can.

The ride the city of New Orleans and the entire Gulf coast region's fans are on is fantastic. The Steelers weren't always Super, suffering nearly 40 years without sniffing an NFL championship. I know how those long-suffering fans feel as the clouds have been lifted and finally, they are on the big stage.

The NFL's biggest show, hosted nine times by this great city, has never included the Saints.

In 1967 the NFL expanded to New Orleans as a result of the increasing popularity of pro football. The upstart AFL had begun to get the attention of NFL execs and they felt pressure to have more franchises in areas that had been traditional college regions. 

As Jim had pointed out in an earlier SDB column, one of the Saints original owners John W Mecom, Jr, wanted their colors to be to be the 'old' gold we all associate with them today and a blue, somewhere between royal and Carolina! The colors were nixed by the NFL brass as too similar to that of the San Diego Chargers of the rival AFL.

Here's a little info on the symbol many only know as the logo on the helmet of the New Orleans Saints. The fleur-de-lis (pronounced, flu-oer de lee) is a stylized lily. In French, fleur means flower, and lis means lily.

In the 13th century, during the reign of King Louis IX (St. Louis) the three petals of the flower were said to represent faith, wisdom and chivalry, and to be a sign of divine favor bestowed on France.

In New Orleans, with all of it's rich French history and tradition, the fleur de lis, naturally became the insignia of it's NFL team. The Saints were named for the French Crusaders who conquered much of Europe in those previously mentioned centuries.

Is this?: 

a) Current Saint's owner, Tom Benson's home.

b) Drew Brees' ornate tribute to his team.

c) The gilded protector of Reggie Bush.

d) None of the above.

It's actually, 

d) None of the above.

This is a photo of the gate prominently featuring the fleur de lis, surrounding Buckingham Palace in England. Should the Saints 'Go marching in' to their first NFL title in Miami's Super Bowl XLIV, then I'd certainly expect to see a fleur de lis displayed on their championship ring!

Comments

[Alex]

There are so many variations of the fleur-de-lis, though the New Orleans Saints' version is for some reason remarkably unique and sharp.

[Cesar Torres]

Great jon Dan the man!! miss you guys, WHO DAT! GO SAINTS!

Cesar Torres

[russell]

nice work Dan

[Tenley]

Great article Dan! I think the fleur-de-lis is one of the classier team logos.