Logos
Beginning in 1970, the Mountaineers donned the program's first official logo—the WVU "state outline"—on their helmets through the 1979 season. West Virginia used a white helmet with the state outline logo from 1970–72, a gold helmet with the same logo from 1973–78, and reverted to the white helmet and state outline logo in 1979.
The "Flying WV" is the trademark logo for West Virginia Mountaineer football, adorning the team's helmet and uniform. It debuted in 1980 along with the current gold and blue color scheme as a part of a football uniform redesign by head coach Don Nehlen, and has since become one of the most widely recognized logos in collegiate athletics. In adopting the Flying WV logo on the team's helmets, Nehlen wanted to create a distinct image for the football program that could be easily identified. When Nehlen began his tenure as head coach in 1980, he initially had difficulty in distinguishing between WVU and its opponents while watching game film. The logo itself was created by sports artist John Martin, brother of then-Athletic Director Dick Martin. John Martin's primary inspiration for the logo was the depiction of mountains created with the combination of the state initials 'W' and 'V'. The surge in the logo's popularity led to its adoption as the official logo of West Virginia University in 1985.
Read more about this topic: West Virginia Mountaineers Football