Army football goes green, honors Ivy Soldiers for Navy clash

Army football players will be decked in head-to-toe green when they take to the field in December for the 127th Army-Navy game, Nike announced this week, unveiling the year’s symbolic uniform in honor of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division. Dubbed the “Ivy Soldier” uniforms, players from the United States Military Academy at West Point will wear green helmets, green pants, green cleats — with neon green laces — and green jerseys emblazoned with the 4ID’s patch, which has four ivy leaves, one in each corner of a tilted square. The U.S. Army 4th Infantry Division’s unit insignia is reflected on the shoulder patch. (Nike) Different shades of green hide a slight camouflage pattern, with hues reminiscent of jungle foliage. Promotional photos from Nike show the West Point crest surrounded by neon ivy leaves on the jersey below the collar. The leaves also adorn the Nike “swoosh” facing outward on the athletes’ cleats. Dark, forest-green socks contrast with the creeping ivy leaves and neon laces on each cleat. The uniforms also pay tribute to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, with two long bars — symbolizing the Twin Towers — highlighted on a decal centered on the back of the helmet. Above the bars, the abbreviations DC, NY, and PA are scrawled beneath a single star at the tip of the pentagon-shaped badge. The helmet features a decal honoring the Sept. 11, 2026 attacks. (Nike) On the back of the jersey is a “4TH DIVISION” tribute, spelled out with the characters “IV.” Nike said the unit, since its inception in 1917, epitomized the motto of “Steadfast and Loyal.” The division is currently headquartered at Fort Carson, Colorado. The “Ivy Soldier” collaboration represents the 11th straight year that Nike and the Army have created uniforms for the Army-Navy game. Last year, the uniform theme paid tribute to 1775, honoring the nation’s semiquincentennial. The white garb, with purple-stitched numbers, honored ordinary people who “rendered extraordinary sacrifices for the nation,” according to the official website. Green cleats complete the uniform designed for Army football players competing in this year’s Army-Navy game. (Nike) In previous years, the collaboration honored the 101st Airborne Division, 3rd Infantry Division, 1st Armored Division and U.S. Army Special Forces Command, among others. This year’s Army-Navy game will be played at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2026, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Navy came out on top in last year’s game, eking out a 17-16 victory at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland.