By the way, what's a "Flyer"?
It is worth mentioning here that the team is NOT named for the Philadelphia Flyers NHL franchise. As originally launched in 1980, the "Middletown (NJ) Dixie Flyers" were named for the Nashville minor league (EHL) hockey team of the same name. There are also at least three musical groups named the 'Dixie Flyers'. One was a bluegrass band based in Canada. Another was the 'house band' for a subsidiary of Atlantic Records. This Nashville-based group made several recordings with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Rita Coolidge and the great Brook Benton around 1970. Duane Allman was a member for a time.
There is also a Dixie High School in Utah, of all places, whose teams are known as the 'Flyers'! Probably the most well-known 'Dixie Flyer' was The Dixie Flyer passenger train that operated from 1892 to 1965 via the "Dixie Route" from Chicago to Florida. Another 'Dixie Flyer' was an automobile built in Louisville, Kentucky from 1916 until 1923. These Dixie Flyers were marketed under the slogan of "The Logical Car." You can also find a racing bike company that used the name since the late 1800s until a recent change to Velo Bikes.
The whole "Dixie" persona of this franchise was dropped in 1981. The club's symbol changed at that point from the Rebel flag to a 'falcon' or 'hawk' type bird. It switched back and forth between that 'bird' mascot and a 'bi-plane' or 'pilot' logo several times prior to 2000.
In addition to their 'logo', the Flyers have never been reluctant to change their look. This page traces the evolution of their headgear. These first eleven helmets are those worn on a regular basis since the franchise was founded in 1980. The bottom group made brief appearances, sometimes only on the drawing board. Some of the helmets carried subtle changes not listed here as separate versions. For example the 1996 helmet had a thin black border around the "B". The border changed to blue in 1997.
The original Middletown Dixie Flyer helmet, with its Confederate flag logo, caused more commotion than perhaps any piece of football equipment in history. The quickly created alternative helmet (shown below) was rushed into the breech to quell the furor but the players refused to wear it. The Rebel logo helmet stayed for the entire '80 campaign before being scraped as the team moved to Maryland for the 1981 season.
The 2001 season's Week One Flyer-Heroe clash was the 40th matchup in one of the longest running rivalries in fantasy football. The helmets shown at the bottom of this page were worn in that game. The Heroes' helmet was an exact replica of the club's 1981 headgear. The Flyers' helmet was the never-worn 1980 alternative helmet with a Rebel decal to represent the original 1980 version.
More helmets to this page may be added as they are uncovered in the club's archives.
