Although the color of the state of Illinois may change with the seasons, the University remains the same colors throughout all seasons – orange and blue. But what many University students don’t know is that the University has had several other color schemes before settling on the current school colors.

Patrick Hayes, associate director of development for LAS, said the University used many different color schemes up until the 1890s.

“The culture at the time didn’t associate colors with what they do now,” said Hayes, former senior director of the University of Illinois Alumni Association. “The colors weren’t representative of the school. There were different (color) schemes with different events.”

According to Hayes, there was much confusion regarding which University color scheme was to be used.

“For years, uncertainty existed as to the University colors,” stated Winton Solberg in his book, The University of Illinois 1894-1904: The Shaping of the University. “No one could readily define the concept, but everyone agreed that some visible symbols were needed to provide a rallying point for college activities.”

A document from the University Archives indicates that the first University colors were cardinal and silver, first implemented in September 1879. But as time went on, cardinal and silver were replaced by other colors selected by the Athletic Association – now known as the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Black and gold was one of the color schemes selected by the Athletic Association.

Dubbed “the old gold and black” by many University students and faculty, this scheme lasted for quite some time, although no one knows exactly how long.

“Gold and black was used by the University for many years, but was dropped when other Midwest schools, like Iowa, picked it up,” Hayes said. “It didn’t set Illinois apart from other schools.”

Green and white was another scheme selected by the Athletic Association. The University acquired an athletic coach from Dartmouth College in 1892, who brought the Dartmouth green with him to represent the school.

Dartmouth green was used in 1893 along with other schemes including yellow and black, crimson and olive green, orange and black, and old gold and black, according to a document from the University Archives.

According to an article in the Feb. 5, 1981, edition of IlliniWeek, individual classes had their own color schemes to represent them before 1894. Class colors often proved to be a trouble-causing agent of sorts, especially in the 1890s when fights between classes broke out due to the display of colored ribbons.

“‘Color rush,’ as these attacks on the colors of an opposing class came to be called, began in 1891 when freshmen appeared at chapel wearing class ribbons in defiance of a proclamation from the sophomores,” said the article, written by Sheryl Kaczmarek. “About 300 students brawled over the incident.”

The University attempted to control these fights by implementing rules, but they had little effect and the fighting continued, stated the article. The fights between classes waned in 1914 or 1915 for an unknown reason.

The University finally settled on the current colors of orange and blue in 1894, according to Solberg.

“In September 1894, the editor of The Illini called for official action on University colors, and in October, (University President Andrew) Draper urged that the matter be settled,” said Solberg in his book. “A faculty committee met with student representatives and proposed orange and white, with green in addition on the athletic field. A committee from the Athletic Association reviewed these ideas, and the combined committees then proposed navy blue and orange.”

Draper asked the student and faculty members to vote for this scheme during a weekly convocation in 1894, according to Solberg’s book. Orange and blue were adopted officially on Oct. 24, 1894.

“Orange was selected to represent freedom, and blue stood for steadfastness and stability,” Hayes said.

Information on the history of the school colors, however, often has been hard to come by.

Hayes was enlisted by the Alumni Association to perform research on this topic in response to an inquiry from an engineering professor.

“When I did my research 22 years ago, the information was very thin,” Hayes said. “I was surprised because I thought that this type of thing would be common knowledge.”

Many students are not aware that the University has been represented by other colors than orange and blue.

Erik Selman, freshman in business, said he had no idea about the history of the colors.

“I would think that there wouldn’t be as much energy as there is with orange,” Selman said. “Especially the basketball games would not be as exciting.”

Selman also said he’s happy with the current colors.

“I really like the colors we have now,” Selman said. “It’s bright. It stands out. It makes us noticed.”