The Yellow and Blue is the

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

of the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, written by Charles M. Gayley. An 1878 graduate, Gayley composed the lyrics in 1886 while he was a professor of English and Latin at UM. He was motivated to write the song in hopes of winning a $20 prize from the student editors of the yearbook (The Palladium). As he wrote the lyrics, Gayley was thinking of the school colors, "azure blue and maize." Ultimately, the song became a paean to the color and light of late summer in Michigan: the yellow grain in the fields, the yellow harvest moon, the varying blues of the sky at morning and sunset. These "ribbons that nature has spun" reminded him, too, of "the maid of the golden hair, and eyes that are brimming with blue." Next Gayley chose a soft, wistful melody called "Pirates' Chorus" from ''The Enchantress,'' an opera by the Irish composer

Michael William Balfe Michael William Balfe (15 May 1808 – 20 October 1870) was an Irish composer, best remembered for his operas, especially ''The Bohemian Girl''. After a short career as a violinist, Balfe pursued an operatic singing career, while he began to co ...

. Students quickly embraced the song and began to sing it. Leaflets with the words were printed, and within a few years it was the university's recognized

. Gayley returned to

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

from time to time, and in 1925, near the end of a long life, he wrote: "It has always been a great joy to me, revisiting Ann Arbor, to hear the song still sung in fraternity houses, and on the campus in the twilight. I have heard it in mid-ocean, on the streets of

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, and hither and yon as I have traveled about the world. A song written in the days of one's youth, if it by good luck expresses the emotion and enthusiasm of succeeding generations of young men and women, is a thousand times more worthwhile than many books of learning."

References

External links

Song Lyrics for ''Yellow and Blue''Sheet music for ''The Yellow and Blue''The Birth of the "Yellow and Blue"Sheet music for "Pirates' Chorus" from ''The Enchantress'' with Variations by Anthony Reiff, Jr.

Download a Public Domain copy of the University of Michigan Band's 1926 recording of "The Yellow And Blue"
University of Michigan American college songs 1886 songs Music of Ann Arbor, Michigan {{Michigan-university-stub