2008
For the 1998 regular season opener, the team made a surprise switch back to gold pants, only this time to match the helmet it was a shinier, more metallic gold rather than the previous beige-matte gold of the past. The striping along the side of the pants remained black-cardinal red-black, though a thin gold trimming was added, along with further oval "SF" logos placed on both sides of the hip. The 1996 helmet and jersey design with the 1998 gold pants would be worn as the team's regular uniforms until the end of the 2008 season.
From the 1980s until 2005, the 49ers nearly always wore their white uniforms at home for their two preseason home games (and thus usually wore white jerseys the whole preseason,) while the team wore red for all eight regular season home games. Since 2006, the 49ers have worn red jerseys for all home games including preseason. The team also is occasionally compelled to wear red on the road when visiting warm-weather opponents early in the season (if that opponent elects to wear their white jerseys), or if an opponent's established home jersey is white, such as the Dallas Cowboys (and on most occasions the Washington Redskins and Miami Dolphins).
Starting in 2002, the 49ers regularly used their 1980s-style (1989 version) scarlet and beige-gold uniform as alternate uniforms for one or two home games (usually for "Alumni Day" and around Christmas). In all, the team would wear the retro uniforms on eight different occasions:
- 2002 - vs. Philadelphia
- 2005 - vs. Tampa Bay
- 2006 - vs. Minnesota and Arizona
- 2007 - vs. Arizona (Season Opener in honor of Bill Walsh) and St. Louis
- 2008 - vs. Seattle and Washington
During the 2006 season, the 60th anniversary of the team's inception, a commemorative patch was on the jerseys for all games. For the 2007 season, the 49ers began wearing black cleats, following a growing trend among many teams in the NFL.
Read more about this topic: Logos And Uniforms Of The San Francisco 49ers, 1998