Super Bowl LIX kicks off on Sunday. What number is that, though? Here's how to use Roman numerals and why the NFL uses them for the championship game.

Super Bowl week is back, which means Roman numerals are once again at the forefront of the public consciousness. As one of the only institutions that still uses Roman numerals, the NFL's choice brings certain level of ceremony to each Super Bowl.

As we prepare for the 59th edition of the National Football League final, we study why the league adopted the old numerals instead of modern numbers.

It’s the thing that comes up every darn year: the number of the Super Bowl is written in Roman numerals, which is quite the tradition. But if you’re here, you might be wondering: how do you read Roman numerals in the first place?

The use of Roman numerals did not become an NFL tradition until Super Bowl V in 1971. The first two Super Bowls were known as the AFL-NFL world Championship Game. The name “Super Bowl” was officially adopted for the third annual game and the league retroactively added Roman numerals to the Super Bowls before 1971.

With 59 years of history behind the big game, there are a lot of interesting facts about the Super Bowl to brush up on before Feb. 9.

For nearly 60 years, the Super Bowl has become a central part of American culture well beyond the sphere of pro football. And for many, the Super Bowl also prompts the need to touch up on a certain other piece of culture that always re-enters the collective conscience around Super Bowl time.