A Photo History of Olympic Uniforms

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With a crisp white graphic look and roomy pockets, the uniforms to be worn by Team USA at the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics were unveiled in April by official outfitter Ralph Lauren.

The uniforms, along with Ralph Lauren-designed Olympic Village attire for the American athletes, had been ready to go when the Games were postponed last summer due to the pandemic.

“It seems like we’re all go now,” David Lauren, the company’s chief branding and innovation officer, told The Associated Press ahead of the reveal. “They had been designed, produced and ready to roll.”

The Games are now scheduled to open July 23 and end Aug. 8 as organizers continue to figure out how to hold them with the pandemic still raging and just 100 days to go. In the meantime, Ralph Lauren is ready with opening and closing parade gear for the more than 600 Team USA athletes, those participating in the Paralympics and Olympic-themed items for sale to the public.

Opening ceremony uniforms will be unveiled in July.

Lauren, the son of the fashion giant’s founder, said sustainability was top of mind this Olympic go around.

Ralph Lauren, which has been outfitting Team USA since 2008, worked with Dow on a cotton pre-treatment dyeing process that uses less water, chemicals and energy than more traditional methods. The process was used for a navy Polo shirt each athlete will receive.

A leather alternative using plant-based materials and agriculture biproducts free of synthetic plastics was used for a patch on the closing ceremony’s white stretch denim pant, which is made of U.S.-grown cotton. And like the lightweight drawstring jacket, a striped red, white and blue belt to be worn by the athletes is derived partially from recycled plastic bottles.

The patches are already a keepsake of the historic Olympic delay: They say “Team USA” with the year 2020 printed in red.

The zip jackets in white include navy collars and hoods, and striped red, white and blue cuffs. An American flag patch is on one arm and “USA” is on the other, the latter also down one pant leg. The athletes will wear a classic white Polo shirt, white sneakers with a stripe design and navy masks also made of American cotton. The uniforms were made in the United States.

The company’s Olympic retail collection is available for purchase on Ralphlauren.com and in June at select Ralph Lauren retail stores, select U.S. department stores and online at TeamUSAShop.com. All revenue supports Team USA.

“We want our athletes to really be ambassadors for American style, culture and sportsmanship,” Lauren said recently via Zoom from Manhattan. “We also understood that the message for the Olympics was about sustainability, that this would be the most sustainable Olympics in history and a chance for the team to showcase ingenuity around new ways of thinking about our environment.”

Scroll through this gallery of Olympic uniforms from 1920 - present and see the Tokyo Olympics uniforms designed by Ralph Lauren for the 2021 games.

48 photos
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Antwerp, Belgium: Picture shows a group of US Olympic Athletes posing together in their uniforms on Nov. 5, 1920.
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Aileen Riggin, Gertrude Ederle, and Helen Wainright stand in their Olympic team uniforms and hold American flags, after returning from the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium.
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American skater Gretchen Merrill on the ice during her performance in the Ladies Figure Skating contest at the Olympic Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Feb. 6, 1948. Merril finished the event in 8th place.
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Team portrait of the 1920 US Olympic ice hockey team, undated.
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Portrait of American athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias in 1932 holding a javelin and wearing her Olympic uniform in Los Angeles, California. Babe set a new world record with her javelin throw at the event.
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American speed skater Irving Jaffee holds his gold medal after winning the men’s 10,000-meter speed skating event at the 1932 Winter Olympic Games, Lake Placid, New York, on Feb. 9, 1932.
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Here are the official uniforms that will be worn by the men and women of the U.S. Olympic teams when the 1948 Olympiad opens in England.
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Portrait of the US Olympic speed skating team on an outdoor rink shortly after arriving in St. Moritz for the 1948 Winter Olympic Games, St. Moritz, Switzerland, January 1948.
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This is a July 29, 1948, file photo of Ralph Craig, center, who won the 100- and 200-meter dashes in the 1912 Olympic games in Stockholm and was a member of the U.S. Olympic Yachting team in the 1948 games, carrying the American flag in the parade of the nations at the opening of the Olympic games in London’s Wembley Stadium.
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Eleanor McCoy is dwarfed by athletes (from left) Howard William, Clyde Lovelette, both of Peoria, Illinois; Clyde Dean Kelly of Lawrence, Kansas, and Bob Kurland of Bartsville, Oklahoma, as she checks to make certain their Olympic jackets fit in 1952.
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The ‘Tennessee Tiger Belles’, the American athletic team who collected three gold medals in the 1960 Olympic Games, arrive at London Airport from Rome for the Commonwealth versus USA athletics meeting on Sept. 12. 1960. From left to right, they are Martha Hudson, Lucinda Williams, Wilma Rudolph and Barbara Jones.
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American Olympic sprinter Wilma Rudolph in the final steps of a race at the 1960 Summer Games. Rudolph, who couldn’t walk without the use of braces until she was nine, won gold in the 100- and 200-meter run, and anchored the winning 400-meter relay team.
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National champion and Olympic team figure skating member Peggy Fleming of Boulder Springs, Colorado, wears her Olympic parade uniform during a fitting session on Jan. 22, 1968.
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Avery Brundage, President of the International Olympic Committee, presents the winning gold medals to Otis Paul Drayton, Gerald Ashworth, Richard Stebbins and Robert Hayes of the United States during the medal ceremony for winning the Men’s 4 x 100 meters relay competition on Oct. 21, 1964, during the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
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The women of the United States Olympic team lead their male counterparts into the University City Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Mexico City on Oct. 12, 1968.
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U.S. Olympic team decathlon competitor Bruce Jenner of San Jose, Calif., is fitted for his Olympic uniform in Plattsburgh, New York, on July 7, 1976.
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Men’s Basketball during the Summer Olympic Games on July 18, 1976.
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Members of the American Men’s Olympic ice hockey team celebrate on the medal podium after receiving their gold medals in Lake Placid, New York, on Feb. 24, 1980.
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The U.S. Olympic hockey team gathered in New York's Grand Army Plaza on March 3, 1980.
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American Olympic athletes wave the cowboy hats that are part of their official Olympic uniforms on Feb. 8, 1984, as they march in Kosevo Stadium during opening ceremonies of the Winter Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.
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The American cycling team rides together in Seoul, South Korea, on Sept. 18, 1988.
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A closeup view of the emblem on the official uniform of the United States Olympic Team worn during the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California.
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Alpine skiers Bill Johnson (wearing hat) and Doug Lewis of the USA Olympic Team try on their Olympic uniforms prior to the 1984 Winter Olympics held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.
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American 400 meter runner Denean Howard (right) among other members of the US Olympic team during the Parade of Nations at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games, Seoul, South Korea, on Sept. 17, 1988.
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Michael Jordan, left, of the Chicago Bulls and Earvin "Magic" Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers sport their new uniforms for the 1992 US Olympic Basketball team on Sept. 21, 1991, in Chicago, Illinois.
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The US women's softball team waves to the crowd after being awarded the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
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New members of the U.S. Women’s National Basketball, from left, Lisa Leslie, Chamique Holdsclaw, DeLisha Milton and Nikki McCray pose with their uniforms during a news conference at the MCI Center during the 2000 Olympics.
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United States Olympic athletes, from left, boxer Rock Allen, softball player Jennifer Nicholas, archer Lisa Fernandez, and fencer Ivan Lee model the new 2004 Olympic Sportswear collection on May 13, 2004, at NBC Studios in New York.
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U.S. Olympic diver Mark Ruiz and rhythmic gymnast Mary Sanders pose for a photo wearing the official opening ceremonies uniform on the set of the NBC Today show on Aug. 13, 2004, which moved to Athens for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
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Players from the US Olympic basketball team (L-R) Carlos Boozer, Jason Kidd, Michael Redd, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Deron Willimas, Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Tayshaun Prince pose in Rockefeller Center on June 30, 2008, to display the uniforms provided by Nike they will wear at the Beijing Olympics.
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Uniforms outfitted for the Olympic Rowing are displayed at Boathouse Sports on July 13, 2012, in Philadelphia for the Summer Games in London.
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Team USA during the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games held in London, England, on July 27, 2012.
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Nordic combined skier Todd Lodwick of the United States Olympic team carries his country’s flag during the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics on Feb. 7, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.
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U.S.A. Track and Field athletes, from left, Allen Johnson, Jen Toomey, Inger Miller, Justin Gatlin and Stacy Dragila show off the 2004 uniforms which will debut at the Olympic games in Athens during a news conference July 13, 2004, in Sacramento, California.
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The 100 day countdown to the 2012 London Olympics on NBC News’ Today show.
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From left: Ryan Lochte, Haley Anderson and Jordan Burroughs on TODAY revealing the Olympics Closing Ceremony uniforms on April 27, 2016.
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Flag bearer Michael Phelps of the United States leads the U.S. Olympic Team during the Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on Aug. 5, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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USA Olympic Team uniforms debut on March 17, 2016, in New York City.
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Professional basketball players Elena Delle Donne, Kevin Durant, and Sanya Richards-Ross show off the 2016 Olympics Uniforms For USA on March 17, 2016, in New York City.
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Team USA Tokyo Olympic closing ceremony uniforms are displayed during the unveiling at the Ralph Lauren SoHo Store on April 13, 2021, in New York City.
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Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Team USA Tokyo Olympic closing ceremony uniforms are displayed during the unveiling at the Ralph Lauren SoHo Store on April 13, 2021, in New York City.
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Team USA Tokyo Olympic closing ceremony uniforms are displayed during the unveiling at the Ralph Lauren SoHo Store on April 13, 2021, in New York City.
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Team USA Tokyo Olympic closing ceremony uniforms are displayed during the unveiling at the Ralph Lauren SoHo Store on April 13, 2021, in New York City.
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Team USA Tokyo Olympic closing ceremony uniforms are displayed during the unveiling at the Ralph Lauren SoHo Store on April 13, 2021, in New York City.
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Team USA Tokyo Olympic closing ceremony uniform unveiling at the Ralph Lauren SoHo Store on April 13, 2021, in New York City.
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Athletes Daryl Homer (Fencing), from left, Jordyn Barratt (Skateboard) and Heimana Reynolds (Skateboard) participate in the Team USA Tokyo Olympic closing ceremony uniform unveiling at the Ralph Lauren SoHo Store on April 13, 2021, in New York City.
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Team USA Tokyo Olympic closing ceremony uniform unveiling at the Ralph Lauren SoHo Store on April 13, 2021, in New York City.
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Athletes Daryl Homer (Fencing), from left, Jordyn Barratt (Skateboard) and Heimana Reynolds (Skateboard) participate in the Team USA Tokyo Olympic closing ceremony uniform unveiling at the Ralph Lauren SoHo Store on April 13, 2021, in New York City.

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