Chicago Blackhawks’ logo: The origin of the name and imagery

The Chicago Blackhawks' Indian Head logo has recently come under the public's microscope with the news of the Washington Redskins dropping their team name and logo and the Cleveland Indians also exploring a new name.

Scott Powers of The Athletic wrote a piece on June 25 exploring thoughts on the Hawks' logo and diving into its history.

On July 7, the Blackhawks issued a statement standing by the team's name and logo.

So how did the famed Native American logo come to be on what many call the best jersey in sports?

The original owner of the Blackhawks, Frederic McLaughlin, bought the WHL’s Portland Rosebuds and moved the team to Chicago, giving them a new name.

When the NHL expanded to 10 teams for the 1926-27 campaign, McLaughlin's team was in.

The Chicago Tribune reported on the birth of the team back in Aug. 27 of 1926.

“The name of the team was picked yesterday,” Tribune sports editor Don Maxwell wrote. “McLaughlin and his associates decided that the team should be called the Black Hawks. Uniforms will be symbolic of the name.”

In World War 1, McLaughlin commanded the 333rd Machine Gun Battalion of the U.S. Army’s 86th Infantry Division, nicknamed "the Blackhawk Division", after Sauk war leader Black Hawk.

"The division’s personnel were drawn from the Midwest, where the real Black Hawk had fought to defend his tribe and its land," Powers wrote in his piece.

After deciding on a team name with ties to his service in the military, McLaughlin had to choose a logo. He picked the side profile of a Native American.

"The logo was supposedly inspired by the one used by Onwentsia Club in suburban Lake Forest, where McLaughlin played polo," according to Powers.

And the logo's designer? McLaughlin's wife at the time, Irene Castle. Castle was a well-known actress and dancer who became an animal rights activist in the later years of her life.

The logo has undergone several minor alterations since its creation, but still closely resembles its original form.