Utah Utes To Wear Amazing Hand-Painted Helmets Celebrating Polynesian Culture

November 24, 2024 Vaseline blog 0

Utah Utes To Wear Amazing Hand-Painted Helmets Celebrating Polynesian Culture

The University of Utah football team will honor the Polynesian culture within its program this Saturday, when they take on Iowa State in their final home game of the year. And with the latest edition of their annual hand-painted toppers, they’ve once again created a beautiful helmet with a deeper meaning.

The helmets were shown in a video in preparation for this weekend’s game.

Beautiful!

Here’s a look at the front, back and sides of the special helmet:

The helmet prominently features Hawaiian tattoo art, symbolizing the strength and unity of Polynesian culture. The mostly red helmet depicts the Hawaiian art with shading and black, and has a black facemask. The right side showcases Utah’s interlocking U logo which sits atop the tattoo art. The front bumper has “MUSS” which stands for “Mighty Utah Student Section,” the very raucous rooting section in the stands.

But the real gem is the left side of the helmet.

Here, the words “Malama Lahaina” sit atop an outline of the Hawaiian island of Maui, with a painting representing Lahaina’s historic Front Street on the island below that. You may recall a deadly wildfire in August, 2023, on the Hawaiian Island killed 102 people and destroyed more than 2,200 structures, causing more than $5 billion in damages.

“Malama Lahaina” refers to the ongoing recovery efforts from the fires in the Maui town, and the Hawaiian word “Malama” means to take care of and nurture the Hawaiian people and their culture. It’s a poignant message of support and solidarity for Maui’s recovery.

As noted above, Utah has worn a hand-painted helmet for at least one game every year since 2016, with the exception of the COVID-shortened 2020 season. And there have been some drop-dead gorgeous helmets worn over the years.

Here’s a look at those:

2016: Black Drum and Feather Helmets

Here’s more on that.

__________

2017: Red “Throw The U” Helmets

__________

2018: Red Tail Hawk Helmets

Here’s more on that.

__________

2019: 1966-67 Throwback Helmets

Here’s more on that.

__________

2020: No helmet due to COVID

__________

2021: USS Salt Lake City Helmets

Here’s more on that.

__________

2022: “22 Forever” Helmets

Here’s more on that.

__________

2023: The “MUSS”

Here’s more on that.

__________

Each of those helmets was great in its own right, but I think I like the 2024 edition the best. The design is stellar, and the cause is just. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing these on the field Saturday evening.

Your thoughts? Which of the handpainted helmets did you like best?