Foreword: The Helmet is a jaunty pigeon with a peppy, active personality. When on show it should give the viewer a zestful impression of a bird with vigor and enthusiasm. Cowering or crouching in a corner are not and should not be characteristic of the breed. When taken in hand, it should not be unduly frightened or struggle. The Helmet captures one’s attention, in effect, calls out, "I enjoy life and have a right to. I am intelligent, healthy, poised, and I appeal to people". Other things being equal, the bird with these qualities is preferred. It is strongly suggested that this standard be read with the accompanying drawings in view. At times, difficult to explain or understand characteristics are best left to the Ideal Drawing.

Head (crested 10 pts. P.H. 12 pts.): Should be medium in size, with broad frontal, showing no indication of flatness. The frontal should rise sharply from the wattle with a well defined, forward curve, rising to a full top skull (on the short-face varieties, the distance from the eye to the frontal should be greater than from the eye to the top of the skull), then flowing back to the base of the crest without any breaks to mar its continuity. There should definitely be more frontal than back skull, top skull should not be lacking. Viewed from the front, the face should start to develop right behind the wattle with broad cheeks and rising with fullness across the eyes, appearing slightly arched rather than flat or angular. Any indication of a narrow face or pinched appearance must be avoided. Despite the desire for a broad, full frontal, "eye brows" (feathers protruding over the eyes) must be avoided. The crest should be the only interruption in the smooth flow of head into neck

Crest (7 pts.): Should be shell-shaped and prominent. It should stand well above the head and be as thick and full as possible without hugging the skull. It should reach from ear to ear showing no breaks along its edge and end in completely formed rosettes.

Rosettes (6 pts.): Should be shell-shaped and prominent. It should stand well above the head and be as thick and full as possible without hugging the skull. It should reach from ear to ear showing no breaks along its edge and end in completely formed rosettes.

Beak (6 pts.): Beak length is dependent on the variety, Short Faced or Medium Faced (see measurements). In both varieties, however, it should have sufficient substance to avoid a pinched effect. A stout beak is preferred to a spindly beak in each variety. The beak should be compatible with the desired fullness of the face. It should be set straight with an imaginary line passing between the mandibles to the bottom of the eye cere and through the center of the rosette. A bleached bone colored beak is preferred in all colors.

Wattle (1 pts.): Should blend with the beak and form an abrupt connection with the feathers of the frontal. It should be powdered white and fine and smooth in texture.

Eyes (4 pts.): Should be bright pearl in color and have a well defined, round pupil. Vertically, the bottom of the eye should be on the imaginary line continuing back from the mandible joining and horizontally, its center should be no further back than 11/32" from the mandible gap on the Short Face and no closer than 3/8" from the mandible gap on the Medium Face.

Cere (2 pts.): Should be thin and fine in texture, definitely not coarse, flesh color is preferred with a light pink being acceptable.

Neck (Crested 3 pts. neck, 3 pts. mane; P.H. 9 pts.): Should be medium length, short rather than long and fairly stout with a "bullish" appearance. Viewed from the side, it should arch very slightly. The mane is a very important asset to the neck and the bird’s overall appearance. The mane should extend backward from the rosette area, blending with and supporting the crest while flowing smoothly down the neck with no breaks to the point where it joins the body.

Body (10 pts.): Medium sized and well proportioned, short rather than long. Should have a cobby appearance, broad in front, tapering in a wedge-like manner to the tail. The neck and crop region should blend into the chest in a graceful curve with the feathers of the chest covering the wing butts. There should be no suggestion of a "roached" (humped" back. To the feel, the body should suggest good muscular tone and firmness. See measurements for more detail.

Wings (2 pts.): Should be tightly folded onto the sides of the body with the secondaries resting on the back. Secondaries which rise above the back (sideboards) are undesirable. The wings should be folded neatly over the tail, "riding" on the tail, not crossing or drooping below the tail.

Legs (2 pts.): Should be sturdy and medium to short in length (see measurements). Hocks should be substantial and blend smoothly into the body. The tarsus (shank) should be bright red, smooth textured and free of

Feet (2 pts.): Should be bright red, smooth and free of feathers. The toe nails 

feathers. should be bleached bone color. See "type" for presentation.

Tail (3 pts.): Should be neat, narrow, and straight (neither tipping up nor drooping down, in line with the body) extending no more than 3/8" (short faced varieties) or ½" (medium faced varieties) from the tips of the primaries. The tail should be made up of twelve pennae (main tail feathers), and be tightly packed with a width of no more than one and one half feather widths.

Feathers: The bird should be covered by a smooth feather system without protrusion of loose, broken, or deformed feathers. Feathers should be profuse and reasonably loose from the neck up, becoming hard, close, and tight fitting on the body, wings and tail, reflecting good condition.

Type (crested 15 pts. P.H. 17 pts.):  Should be proportioned in such a way as to present an evenly balanced appearance in all respects. Should be sprightly in manner and stand very erect, appearing to try to thrust its chest upward. The head should be positioned so that the eyes are vertically in line with the balls of the feet. Ideally, the bird should be on its front toes with its rear toes off the surface.

Condition: 10 points are allotted for condition, not to affect the original 100 points.

Markings: All markings should be straight and definite, clearly showing the contrast between colored and white areas. The head and tail shall be colored (see list of colors below), the remainder of the bird shall be white.

Head Markings (Crested 8 pts): The head markings shall extend from the point where the upper and lower mandibles join, thence to the rosettes, making a straight line along the bottom of the eye. There shall be no colored feathers in the crest or its lining or below the eye (often termed "sideburns"). The cap shall be free of white feathers.

Head Markings (P.H. 14 pts): Same as above except, the demarcation line shall continue straight back, wrapping around the back of the head in a straight, unbroken line.

Tail Marking (6 pts): The color shall extend to the vent and in an even sharp line, cross over the rump.

Color (10 pts): The color of the head and tail shall be as close to the same color as possible, with the most points being awarded to the bird whose head and tail match (providing, of course, that the color is in accordance with standard requirements). Colors should be even and extend to the feathers’ base.

Color Classes: Black, blue, recessive red, ash red, and their respective dilutes, dun, silver, yellow, and ash yellow, and AORC.

Color Descriptions:

Black – Rich, jet black with an iridescent green sheen. There shall be no sign of a tail bar.
Dun – Smooth, even rich shade of greyish brown with an iridescent green sheen. There shall be no sign of a tail bar.
Blue – Rich, even shade of blueish grey, almost silvery in appearance. Black tail bar approximately one quarter inch from the tip. A rich iridescent green sheen should be visible on the blueish grey. There should be no sign of ticking or ashing.
Silver – Rich shade of light silver-grey. Dun tail bar approximately one quarter inch from the tip. A rich, iridescent green sheen should be visible on the silver-grey. There should be no sign of ticking or ashing.
Recessive red – Deep, even shade of brick red blending toward blood red. A rich, iridescent rosy sheen should be visible on the red. There should be no ash or plum shading.
Recessive yellow – Smooth, deep, even, golden-buff yellow. There should be no sign of ash or plum shading.
Ash red – A rich, claret red on the head with the tail being an even shade of lavender-grey with as little flecking or ticking as possible. A small amount of blue, black, or brown flecking or ticking is acceptable.
Ash yellow – A rich, golden cream on the head with the tail being a very pale cream-grey shading to ash white with as little flecking or ticking as possible. A small amount of silver-dun or khaki ticking or flecking is acceptable.
NOTE: The majority of ash red pigment birds do not have a tail bar, however, when a bird with a tail bar is shown, the bar should be the color of the head.
AORC (all other recognized colors) – All genetically correct colors/patterns not listed above as described by "The English Long Faced Tumbler", 1978 update by Johnnie Blaine and "An introduction to Pigeon Science", by Joseph Quinn. This class must not be the home of poor examples of one of the above listed colors or mismarked birds.

Ideal Measurements:
Body length in show stance from front of breast to tip of tail (Short Face 6 ½", Medium Face 7 Ύ")
Height while in show stance from top of skull to the balls of the feet (Short Face 7", Medium Face 8")
Body width from the outside of the wing butts (Short Face 3 ½", Medium Face 4")
Ball of foot to center of joint between tarsus (shank) and leg (measured in hand) (Short Face 1 1/8" – 1 Ό", Medium Face 1 Ό" – 1 3/8")
Beak length measured from mandible gap to tip of beak (Short Face as short as possible, Medium Face 5/8")