Black and Gold

The colors of black and gold on the Purdue logo are kept today and sported on anything with a Purdue University label to show that we value tradition. We've had these colors since the fall of 1887, when it was decided that the football team would acheive more distinction if it sported official school colors. Here is more of a brief history from the Purdue University Libraries page:

" At the time, Princeton was the most successful football team in the country, so J.B. Burris, captain of the first Purdue team, proposed that Purdue adopt Princeton’s colors to quickly gain distinction. Princeton’s orange and black colors were mistaken by some as yellow and black. Purdue team members decided to change the yellow to a more distinguished old gold to go with the black" (http://www.lib.purdue.edu/spcol/PurdueHistory/purduefaq.html#13).

I am not surprised that another important tradition of Purdue University was started by the football team. The "old gold" seems to display loyalty to the team. It is a very regal color that makes a sharp contrast with the black. These colors are very prominent in numerous items of apparel and labels. I find it interesting that the "PUR" and the "DUE" of the word "PURDUE" reverse colors. However, they are joined in one word. To me, this portrays unity that the university wishes to extend to all members. It also adds a neat effect to the logo. The front of the train is included in this picture to represent a large part of Purdue, which is the well-known engineering program. It is the train (the Boilermakers) that shows how we value our reputation as one of the top engineering schools in the country.

Although many Purdue University athletics are impressive and greatly speculated as a member of the Big Ten Conference, almost everyone is aware that football is the largest attraction. When we see the colors black and old gold, I assume that most of us immediately think about our school. It's almost as if the colors define us, because they are a part of who we are. We want other universities and our greatest rivals to recognize us with the colors black and gold.


http://www.lib.purdue.edu/spcol/PurdueHistory/purduefaq.html#13