The tradition of the Harvard lettersweater dates back to the early 1880s when the crew team adopted a white sweater with a crimson “H” as their uniform. As football, baseball, and track began to compete on an intercollegiate level during the 1880s, the need arose for official Harvard athletic attire. Accordingly, in 1896, the Athletic Committee overseeing undergraduate sports met to discuss the options for outfitting Harvard’s athletes. After some deliberation, the Committee decided to prescribe each team a sweater that used a unique color scheme of crimson, black, and white.

Unique lettersweaters for each sport remained until 1957 when the number of varsity sports (10) and minor h colors was beginning to outnumber the possible permutations of colors in the lettersweaters. After receiving a recommendation from the Undergraduate Athletic Council, the Faculty Committee on Athletic Sports agreed to standardize the lettersweaters for all major sports. The hockey team’s color combination was chosen— a classic black sweater with a crimson “H” bordered in white. Today, it is the official lettersweater for all Harvard Major H recipients.