Name-a-Day Calendar, February 22: Harvard Crimson
Page 108 of 365
Chosen in: Unofficially 1858; officially 1910
Chosen by: Crew members Charles Eliot and Benjamin Crowninshield
Harvard’s athletic teams have always been called by their school color, so the story of their nickname is actually the story of their school colors.
Their first school color was technically red. The story goes that, just before a regatta on June 19, 1858, crew members Charles Eliot and Benjamin Crowninshield bought red handkerchiefs for the team so they could keep the sweat out of their eyes in a stylish way, distinct from their opposition. But the more the crew used the handkerchieves, the darker they got from the moisture, and eventually red turned to crimson. The darker red became the unofficial school color in celebration of the crew.
Less than a decade later, suddenly everything was magenta. Another crew member in 1864 attempted to continue the tradition and buy crimson scarves for his team, but the shop was out of them, so he had to settle for magenta: a color that was surging in popularity at the time. Because of this coincidence, magenta would become the next unofficial color of Harvard.
By 1875, magenta had been Harvard’s color nearly twice as long as crimson had. Then came the regatta against Union College, whose color was also magenta and who had no intention of switching to appease Harvard. Accounts differ on how this conflict was resolved. Either Union let Harvard know the situation ahead of time and Harvard switched their color to maintain distinction or both teams showed up to the regatta with magenta scarves and Harvard held a meeting after the fact and settled the matter internally. Either way, the result was Harvard returning to crimson.
It’s also worth mentioning that Charles Eliot, one of the original red handkerchief purchasers, became president of Harvard in 1869 and presided over the switch back from magenta to his beloved crimson. He held that office for 40 years, and in 1910, a year after he left, the school made crimson the official color in his honor.
Officially, Harvard’s mascot is John Harvard the Pilgrim, the original benefactor and namesake of the college. But many fans have wanted a true mascot for years. The largest movements have been for a turkey mascot, including just a few months ago, when the Harvard Undergraduate Association put $1,000 toward testing one out.
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