The St. Louis Cardinals are one of the most iconic franchises in the MLB. And yet, despite the Cardinals sporting the bird of their namesake on their jerseys, the true reason for their name isn’t the bird. The Cardinals actually got their name before the bird became a feature on their jersey. But how really did the name come to be?

The Cardinals may have exited the 2021 season off a Wild Card loss to the Dodgers, but their history is far more compelling. The true reason for the Cardinals’ name is likely going to surprise you.

The story of the Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are actually one of the most historic franchises in baseball. They have competed in the National League since 1892 and have gone by a whole host of names before finally getting down to how we know them today.

Having been founded in 1882, the franchise initially was known as the ‘Brown Stockings’. The press and general media at the time shortened this to just the ‘Browns’ for their convenience. This name persisted for quite a while and was popularized from 1883 to 1898. It was at this time that the team started competing in the National League.

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However, it was in 1898 that some real change came about. The new owners enacted some changes for the franchise. These included a name change. From the ‘Brown Stockings’ that they were initially known as, the St. Louis franchise was now the ‘Perfectos’.

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Change to the St. Louis Cardinals

This came along with an apparel upheaval for the team too, with the brown clothing being replaced by the bright cardinal red trim on the jerseys and the stockings.

The fans and viewers of the team really began to appreciate the new direction of the owners. So much so that they began to refer to the ‘Perfectos’ as the ‘Cardinals’.

Some fans have a different theory for why the name change may have occurred, too.

The owner, in a bid to capitalize on their popular nickname, would once again change the name during the 1900 season and make it official. That marked the arrival of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Cardinals feature on the logo and in the jersey were a much later addition to the franchise and were only added sometime in the mid-1920s.

Nevertheless, the side’s now iconic red and white trim is sported every season in the National League, and the Cardinals will hope that their place in history is replete with a few more World Series wins.