Name-a-Day Calendar, July 4: Rice Owls
Page 240 of 365
Chosen in: c. 1914
Chosen by: Academic seal designer Pierre de Chaignon la Rose, in a roundabout way
The Rice Institute first opened in 1912. Its academic seal was designed by noteworthy heraldist Pierre de Chaignon la Rose,1 who incorporated owls as a symbol of wisdom. Its official colors, selected by inaugural president Edgar Odell Lovett, were “a blue still deeper than Oxford blue” and “Confederate gray, enlivened by a tinge of lavender”.
Just a few weeks after the school opened, their football legacy began. As the team’s jerseys were shaded the school’s official gray, the team was originally most often called the Grays. However, by 1914, Rice students had taken inspiration from their school’s academic seal and dubbed their teams the Owls.
Today, Rice is represented by a costumed owl mascot named Sammy.
Previous page: Rhode Island Rams
Next page: Richmond Spiders
Find every page at the Name-a-Day Calendar hub!
la Rose also designed the coat of arms for Notre Dame, plus academic seals for Duquesne, the University of Chicago, and more.
Never liked the Rice Owls name, but definitely better than one that is BOTH boring, and, more importantly, racist.
Yeah, the Owls is fine.