Falcons' viral stripe pattern to appear on throwback helmets

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  Marc RaimondiOct 23, 2026, 03:11 PM ET

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  Marc Raimondi's first year covering the Falcons was 2024, but it wasn't his first year at ESPN. He joined the company in 2019 and was a top combat sports reporter. He also covered professional wrestling and wrote the book "Say Hello to the Bad Guys: How Pro Wrestling's New World Order Changed America," which was published by Simon & Schuster in 2025. Raimondi also worked for the New York Post and Newsday, beginning in 2009, covering high school and college sports, plus the NFL, NFL, MLB and NHL.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- The Atlanta Falcons posted a render of their throwback logo Wednesday on social media that created an online backlash, with some posters comparing it to an insignia that might be found in Nazi Germany.

The post featured the franchise's throwback black-and-white bird logo, which it used from the 1960s all the way up to the early 2000s. Behind the logo were vertical stripes in red, black and gold. The colors are a reference to the team's 1966 uniform, which consisted of a red helmet, the black Falcons logo, and black, white and gold striping on the pants.

The Falcons' post remains up, but the team changed its X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram profile photos to one with just the red retro helmet with the black throwback logo on it and no vertical stripes.

The Falcons have worn the retro logo for games every year since 2009 with the exception of several years where the NFL prevented teams from using an alternative helmet color. Atlanta will wear the logo Sunday when it hosts the San Francisco 49ers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The presentation of the retro logo on top of the vertical striping in those colors on that specific social media post seems to be the object of controversy. But the Falcons logo, helmet and uniforms do not actually feature that combination.

The Falcons declined comment on the situation. An NFL spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Associated Press.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank is Jewish and has donated millions to Holocaust remembrance organizations through the Molly Blank Fund, which is named after his mother. In 2023, Blank donated $1.5 million to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.