Why a University Chose its Uniform Colors, Team Name, and Mascot

History of Collegiate Sports: LSU Tigers Louisiana State University (LSU) is renowned for its sporting prowess, success, and sports infrastructure. Over the years, the university has built its reputation as a football, baseball, and basketball giant, accumulating 47 national championships in team sports; 43 of the 47 are NCAA-sponsored. Of the three sports, LSU has been exemplary in football. The University has impressed on a national level, with 51 former football players appearing on the NFL’s opening day roaster in 2017, surpassing every other college in the country (LSU, 2021a). The team’s success today is attributed to its rich history and evolution. Team Name Origin — “Fighting Tigers” LSU’s football team first adopted the name “Tigers” in their perfect 1896 football campaign under Coach A.W. Jeardeau. The team had posted a record of 6-0-0, which is perfect as it includes wins only (LSU, 2006). Thus, picking a name like “Tigers” seemed logical. Although many teams in this era named themselves after fierce animals, LSU’s reasons for picking the name “Tigers” were inspired by specific events of the Civil War (1861-65) involving the state of Louisiana (Ecelbarger, 2014, p.52). Team Name Connection to the State During the war, a battalion of colorful soldiers of the Jackson army named “Louisiana Tigers,” comprising New Orleans Zouaves, and Donaldsonville Cannoneers, fought ferociously against Union assaults on August 30, 1862. Despite running out of ammunition, literature submits that the battalion kept fighting (Ecelbarger, 2014, p.52). When the soldiers ran out of ammunition in the battle, they used rocks and killed many Union soldiers (Yankees) on the frontlines. Team Attributes being Conveyed The courage and ferociousness demonstrated in this battle made the Louisiana Tigers a distinguished unit (Rabalais, 2008). Consequently, in the fourth year of their intercollegiate competition, the LSU football team branded themselves the “Tigers,” a name that later changed to “Fighting Tigers” in 1955. Since these troops were known for their ferocity despite the difficulties and challenges of their backgrounds. LSU’s Fighting Tigers were trying to display similar attributes as the Louisiana Tigers in their team. Team Colors — Origins The official colors of the Fighting Tigers, Purple & Gold, are believed to be the same ones worn in the team’s debut game in the spring of 1893 against Tulane in an intercollegiate contest, a match they went ahead to win. There is a lack of consensus on whether these colors originated from the team’s debut game in 1893. However, much literature posits that the team captain (in the Spring of 1893), E.B. Young, carefully selected these colors for the LSU football team (LSU, 2006, p.58). One may question how the colors worn in the debut game became the official colors of the Fighting Tigers today. The body of literature submits that when the team’s coach Dr. Charles Coates and some members of the team went to purchase the squad’s ribbon for their gridiron game on November 25, 1893, they determined that the apparel stores stocked the ribbons in only two colors (purple and gold). The choice in stock followed the Carnival cultural phenomenon (Mardi Gras), whose primary colors were purple, green, and gold. The stores at the corner of Main and Third Street did not have a stock of green ribbons because the merchandise was yet to arrive. With only gold and...