The Chicago Bears in the season of their inception in 1920 wore blue jerseys with tan colored vertical striping. The vertical stripes were stripes of leather that were neatly stitched onto the uniform. The uniform gave a primitive look. Since brown leather helmets offered little protection, many players refused to wear them. The pants were made of brown canvas and jerseys are made of wool. The prime color of the jersey was orange with navy blue stripes. The strips of metal embedded onto front of the jerseys helped the players hold onto the football, which was fatter and harder to handle than the modern version. In the 1930s, the numbers instead of back appeared in the front and were more rounded. The primary color of the jersey remained same but this time with black arm stripes and black helmet. Till 1958 the Bears wore navy blue with burnt orange. The jersey was so "loud" that the New York literally booed the jersey whenever the Bears came on the field. In 1936, the team wore a dark helmet with three orange stripes from front to back, a white jersey with 14 navy and orange alternating stripes on the sleeves and shoulders. The socks had alternate navy and orange stripes pulled from the ankle to the knee. In the decade of 1940s the Bears returned to their basic pattern of uniform. Except for some preseason games, the Bears did not wear orange jersey. In the first half the team wore a black jersey with orange numerals. Striping was added on the pant. By 1949, the team introduced unique uniform number font style which they followed for next half-century. In the 1950s only minor modifications were made in the size and shape of the jersey numbers.

With the turn of decade, the Bears trademark 'C' logo appeared on helmets. This trend has been followed till today while the mark has been changed from white to orange with a slight change in the shape. In 1964, after running back Willie Galimore and receiver John Farrington were killed in an accident, the team wore a black armband on the left jersey sleeve for the season to pay the tribute to these two players. In 1969, the Bears celebrated their golden jubilee. For the season, the team wore a commemorative patch on the left shoulder for the season. In 1970, the names of the players appeared on to the back of the jersey. Three years later the white 'C' logo was colored orange with white border. In the 1970s the team also experimented with stripes and color of fonts but after a couple of seasons returned to its old form. In 1983, the team’s owner George Halas died of cancer in Chicago at age 88. The Bears to honor him, on their jersey wore a commemorative plaque with initials "GSH" written on a football background. The following season, the monogram was moved to the left jersey sleeve. In 1984, a new uniform for “road games” with navy pants and white jersey was introduced.

In 1994, the Bears celebrated their 75^th anniversary by wear the "throwbacks" uniforms in three games. They adorned the 1920s look with orange vertical stripes on navy jerseys, and tan pants. In 1999, after the death of Walter Payton, the Bears wore a memorial patch with his uniform # 34 on their jersey. In 2001, the team celebrated there three decades of playing at Soldier Field. During that season "Salute to Soldier Field" patch became the distinctive feature of the home jersey. On Oct. 7, 2002 on a Monday Night Football game against Green, the players wore navy blue jerseys with navy pants for the first time. After the death of team’s Chairman Emeritus Edward W. McCaskey in 2003, the players’ helmets featured "EWM" sticker in navy on an orange shamrock. For a Thanksgiving Day game in 2004, the Bears wore orange jersey with navy numbers trimmed in white with the all-white "C" helmet decal.