The Blackhawks were called the Portland Rose Buds before a coffee baron in Chicago, named Frederick McLaughlin purchased the team in the mid 1920's. McLaughlin moved the team to Chicago and was awarded a NHL franchise on September 25, 1926. The Blackhawks played their first game at the Chicago Coliseum on November 17, 1926 against the Toronto St. Pats. Chicago won 4-1.

The team name came from its first owner, Major Fredrick McLaughlin. As a commander of the 333rd Machine Gun Battalion of the U.S. Army's World War I Expeditionary Force, the Major belonged to the 86th Blackhawk Division and felt a many-faceted affection for the name. He also was aware that a chief Blackhawk headed an Indian tribe that roamed the plains of the Midwest. After McLaughlin named the team, his wife Irene Castle - a world renowned ballroom dancer who had teamed with her husband Vernon before he had died - designed the unique Black, Red,and White striped uniforms with the head of Chief Blackhawk on the logo. The Blackhawk Indian head logo has been called by many as the best logo in the history of professional sports.