The University of Colorado Buffaloes are set to kick off another football season with the annual Rocky Mountain Showdown against the Colorado State Rams this Friday, August 29 (7 p.m.). CU players’ helmets will feature an image of a buffalo and gold lettering, a design that replaced its way-too-yellow predecessor in 2005. That’s not the only change the Buffs logo has undergone, though: Click through the slideshow above to see how it’s evolved since the 1940s.

—Photos courtesy of the University of Colorado Athletic Department