Joe Archibold, 12, is hunting for a specific polo shirt. He has a little less than a year to find it, and he needs your help.

It has blue, white and gray stripes and a blue collar, and it’s pretty much the best shirt ever. Joe has the same shirt in size small and medium. He needs a large, to be able to keep intact his now five-year tradition.

UPDATE The shirt has been found

Joe has worn the same shirt for every school picture since second grade.

Joe is in middle school at Longmont’s Flagstaff Academy, and the medium is getting too tight. Though he only recently took sixth-grade school pictures, he’s already worried about next year.

The challenge: The small and medium shirts were both passed down from his cousin many years ago. Joe is one of nine brothers and sisters, so he’s no stranger to hand-me-downs.

So not only are the shirts a full cousin-rotation old and, therefore no longer on the racks, but Joe also isn’t exactly sure about their brand or where they came from. He thinks it was the Sonoma brand from Kohl’s.

That hasn’t stopped his family from setting off the Bat Signal on social media and beyond, in search for the mystery awesome shirt in size large.

The tradition began as an accident, Joe says.

“I thought it was a really nice shirt, so I wore it to class pictures in second grade,” he says.

The next year, he forgot and wore it again.

When he realized he had worn it two years in a row, he says he figured, “Hmmm, I guess I’ll keep wearing it.”

When he outgrew the small, he moved up to the medium.

“Then again and again and again,” Joe says.

He doesn’t reserve his famous blue polo for special occasions. He says he wears it often, and the fact it has held up so long is a testament to its quality.

“It’s still in really good condition,” he says. “It’s just a really nice shirt.”

In fact, now that the small and medium no longer fit him, he has passed them down: to his nephew, Harlan. (Joe’s two younger siblings are both girls.)

Right now, Harlan’s only 1, but Joe is certain the shirts still will look great by the time Harlan starts school. Plus, Harlan’s dad already has committed his son to continuing the blue polo school pics tradition, Joe says.

Now Joe needs that size large, for both him and Harlan.

Otherwise, as a family friend suggested on Facebook, “I think he should just continue to wear the same shirt, regardless of size.”

After all, a tradition is where an inside joke becomes law.

And Joe can’t stop now.

Contact Camera Staff Writer Aimee Heckel at 303-473-1359, heckela@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/Aimeemay.