University of North Alabama school colors

School colors (also known as university colors or college colors) are the

color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are assoc ...

s chosen by a school as part of its

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create a ...

identity, used on building signage, web pages, branded apparel, and the uniforms of sports teams. They can promote connection to the school – or '

school spirit School spirit is the sense of identity and community shared by members of an educational institution. This can apply to any type of school, from elementary schools to universities. Members of a school can manifest spirit in the exhibition of s ...

' – and help differentiate it from other institutions.

Background

The tradition of school colors appears to have started in England in the 1830s. The

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

chose Cambridge blue for the

Boat Race Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

against the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

in 1836,

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It derives from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the 1066 Norman Conquest, as d ...

have used pink as their color since a boat race against Eton School in 1837, and Durham University adopted palatinate purple for its MA hood some time before that degree was first awarded in 1838. Many US colleges adopted school colors between 1890 and 1910. These were generally chosen to be distinctive, something that grew harder as more colors and color combinations were taken, although many Presbyterian colleges chose to imitate

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

's black and orange. Some American schools, in a display of patriotism, adopted the national colors of "red, white, or blue." The most popular colors among US colleges ranked in the 2012 Forbes Top 50 or in the 2013–13 NCAA basketball or cross-country rankings were white, blue, red, black, and gold. These same five colors were the most popular five colors among colleges in each of the three rankings individually.

Sports

The use of colors to identify university sports teams dates back at least to the second

between

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

in 1836. While most universities use the same color(s) for their sports and other university branding, Cambridge Blue is only one of twelve colors in the supporting palette for the university, not one of their six core colors. The

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

uses green and gold for its sports, but the rest of the university uses blue as its brand color.

Roger Williams University Roger Williams University (RWU) is a private university in Bristol, Rhode Island. Founded in 1956, it was named for theologian and Rhode Island cofounder Roger Williams. The school enrolls over 5,000 students and employs over 480 academic sta ...

changed its athletics colors in 2018 to match the university colors, in order to "foster a strong, unified visual identity for RWU Athletics that is more cohesive with the overall University", stating that "this combination will be powerful in strengthening RWU's brand identity and awareness". Most competitive teams keep two sets of uniforms, with one emphasizing the primary color and the other emphasizing the secondary color. In some sports, such as

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

, the primary color is emphasized on home uniforms, while uniforms for other sports, notably

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, use the secondary or a neutral color at home. This is done to avoid confusing the two schools' colors. In addition, various groups that generate support for athletic teams, including cheerleaders and

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, ...

s, wear uniforms with the colors of their school. At many private schools, or more traditional state schools, "school colors" are

awards An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An aw ...

presented for achievement in a subject or a sport.

Academics

School colors are also used in the academic dress of many institutions. The first school color adopted by a university for its academic dress was palatinate purple at Durham University, England, some time between 1835 and 1838. Schools in the US that award an academic hood to their students and abide by the

American Council on Education The American Council on Education (ACE) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) U.S. higher education association established in 1918. ACE's members are the leaders of approximately 1,700 accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities and higher educatio ...

guidelines use hoods lined with their school colors and trimmed with velvet in a color indicating the discipline of the degree. Some US doctoral robes will also be in the colors of the university which granted the degree, departing from the Academic Costume Code color of black.

Academic scarves

Many British, Irish and Commonwealth universities and some American universities have an

academic scarf The wearing of academic scarves is a tradition found at many colleges and universities in English-speaking countries, and particularly in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Sets of two or more coloured stripes have traditionally been used as part of t ...

in the university's colors, usually long, woollen and patterned only with lengthwise stripes of varying widths. At collegiate universities such as

, Durham and

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

, each college has its own colors and scarf. Other non-collegiate universities such as

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

and Newcastle have scarf colors for each faculty.

Notable school colors

* Cambridge blue – University of Cambridge * Carolina blue – University of North Carolina *

Columbia blue Columbia blue is a light blue color named after Columbia University. The color itself derives from the official hue of the Philolexian Society, the university's oldest student organization. Although Columbia blue is often identified with Pantone ...

– Columbia University *

Duke blue Duke blue is a dark blue color used in association with Duke University. History The origins of Duke blue lie in the uniforms worn by the Duke (then Trinity College) football team in their first game against the University of North Carolina in ...

– Duke University *

Eton blue Eton blue, or 'Shelduck Blue' is a shade of green used since early 19th century by sportsmen of Eton College. It is also used by Geelong Grammar School and is similar to the colour used by the University of Cambridge (Cambridge Blue (colour), Camb ...

– Eton School * Oxford blue – University of Oxford *

Palatinate Palatinate or county palatine may refer to: *the territory or jurisdiction of a count palatine United Kingdom and Ireland *County palatine in England and Ireland * Palatinate (award), student sporting award of Durham University *Palatinate (col ...

– Durham University *

RISD blue RISD blue is a vivid blue color named after Rhode Island School of Design. RISD Blue has been identified as RISD's official color as of September 28, 2022 and is the current official color listed by the Rhode Island School of Design's visual iden ...

– Rhode Island School of Design * Tufts blue – Tufts University *

UCLA blue UCLA Blue is the dark azure color used in association with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). It is described as a deep sky blue and is accompanied by a sun gold, UCLA Gold. Both are colloquially referred to as "blue and gold." U ...

– University of California Los Angeles * Yale blue – Yale University

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:School Colors Colors, school