First Football Coach Explains LSU Colors, Nickname

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One of the latter was the frog chorus, popular at Yale. Most of our yells have been superseded by others more modernistic

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I found this interesting item from an article written by Lelia P. Roby in 1891.
It is interesting to know that the college colors are yellow and blue; in heraldry, yellow is light and blue is truth.(197)
The extent of the University’s devotion to Mary hadn’t fully registered on me until I also read these words in an 1896 Annals:
Notre Dame the Home of the “Ave Maria,” Notre Dame the home of Mary to whom all the grounds are dedicated, to whom all the buildings are dedicated, to whom is given all the credit of the work done here for the past fifty years. Mary is sole superior at Notre Dame.(198)
The Ave Maria put it even more succinctly: “Every inch of its ground was consecrated to Mary.”
It hadn’t occurred to me before, that even the school colors for both campuses were chosen to honor Mary.
I’ve never seen this reference to the significance of the symbolism of the school colors in any other printed source before or since. I had a feeling at the time that it might factor into my later research, so I set it aside and decided to wonder about it later. Now seemed as good a time as any to check it out. A reference book on symbolism at the St. Joseph County Public Library revealed more interesting information on the subject. A call to Saint Mary’s revealed that their colors were the traditional ones associated with Our Lady -- sky blue and white. It was evident that all aspects of both campuses were related to Marian devotion and the inspiration to be derived from her heavenly protection.

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When I inquired about the school colors at the archives on both campuses, I was surprised to learn little was known about their meaning, other than the obvious, that Our Lady’s colors were blue and white. Their original symbolism was apparently lost in history along with this early 1890s reference to the school colors. Following is the information I found regarding the school colors chosen to represent Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s. It is interesting to note that all the attributes listed with these colors are also associated with Mary:
BLUE Truth; the Intellect; revelation; wisdom; loyalty; fidelity; constancy; chastity, chaste affections; spotless reputation; magnanimity; prudence; piety; peace; contemplation; coolness. . . . Christian: Heaven; heavenly truth; eternity; faith; fidelity; the colour of the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven.
GOLD -- The sun; divine power; the splendour of enlightenment; immortality. . . .
WHITE . . . White is associated with both life and love, death and burial. In marriage it symbolizes death to the old life and birth to the new, while in death it represents birth into the new life beyond. . . . The purified soul; joy; purity; virginity, innocence; the holy life; light; integrity.
YELLOW Christian: As golden sacredness; divinity; revealed truth; ‘the robe of glory’ used for feasts of Confessors.(199)
Notre Dame’s Blue and Yellow (or gold), its Golden Dome, and Saint Mary’s Blue and White are emblematic of everything Our Lady represents. Sometime, undoubtedly after the Dome and Statue were gilded, Notre Dame’s colors, Blue and Yellow, must have become Blue and Gold. The first evidence of this turned up in an account of a pilgrimage to the Grotto in 1896 and the badges that were worn. “The badge was a circle with a picture of the Grotto, suspended from a blue and gold ribbon hanging from a gilt bar. It was pretty.”

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And you frickers make fun of A&M and yells..

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And you frickers make fun of A&M and yells....

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I had hurt my hand in tackling and had to lay up for a time while Morgan ran down the field, tripped over his sheer ferocity, and sprained his knee.

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