Mayor Duggan declares Thursday, April 25 Honolulu Blue Day in the City of Detroit in celebration of the 2024 NFL Draft

Mayor Mike Duggan has declared Thursday, April 25, 2024, "Honolulu Blue Day" in the City of Detroit.

As Detroit hosts visitors from around the world and right here at home for the NFL Draft, we want to make sure the 90 million people watching the event from home know this year's draft is being hosted in the hometown of the Detroit Lions.

Detroiters and visitors from across the region, especially those planning to be downtown for the Draft event, are encouraged to sport their Honolulu April 25 to represent their love for the Lions and support for the City of Detroit.

"Detroit Lions players brag all the time that Detroit has the greatest football fans anywhere. They proved it during the Lions amazing playoff run last season, even showing up in huge numbers in opposing teams' territory," said Mayor Duggan. "This is a chance for Lions fans to show their pride in the heart of downtown as the eyes of the world are on our city, once again."

History of Honolulu Blue

The Detroit Lions' official blue color is Honolulu Blue, which is a distinctive shade of blue that pays tribute to the Pacific Ocean and Hawaii. The color was developed by WJR owner George A. Richards, who purchased the Portsmouth Spartans in 1934 for $8,000 and moved the team to Detroit, renaming them the Detroit Lions.

Richards is said to have admired the shade of blue of the Pacific Ocean on a trip to Hawaii. Richards then invited Glenn "Press" Presnell, a great player of the time, and his wife to his house for dinner, where he presented them with color swatches and asked which uniforms they liked. "Press" and his wife loved Honolulu Blue, and the team debuted the color along with silver in its first season as the Lions.