Cornell Big Red is the athletic identity of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. The university’s teams compete in NCAA Division I as members of the Ivy League, with ice hockey programs competing in ECAC Hockey. Cornell’s visual identity is built around its historic red and white colors, the “Big Red” nickname, and bear imagery that has been associated with Cornell athletics for more than a century.
Design and History
Cornell’s red and white identity dates to the university’s inauguration on October 7, 1868. According to Cornell Athletics, a red flannel banner with white lettering was displayed behind the speakers at the ceremony, unintentionally establishing the colors that became permanently associated with the institution.[1]
The “Big Red” nickname originated in 1905. Cornell Athletics credits alumnus Romeyn Berry, then a recent graduate, with coining the phrase while writing lyrics for a new football song. Since Cornell had no established nickname at the time, Berry referred to the team as the “big red team,” and the name caught on.[1]
Cornell has never had an official mascot, but the bear became its most recognizable athletic symbol early in the school’s history. The first live Cornell bear mascot, named Touchdown, appeared in 1915 during Cornell’s undefeated national championship football season. Today, a Cornell undergraduate wearing a bear costume performs at varsity athletic events, including all football and men’s ice hockey games.[1] Cornell’s admissions office confirms that the Big Red Bear is the university’s unofficial mascot.[2]
The bear is featured on the logo for Cornell Athletics, as noted in a Cornell University Student Assembly resolution supporting recognition of the Big Red Bear as the official mascot.[3] A 2011 Cornell Athletics announcement describing the launch of a redesigned athletics website referred to a “growling bear logo” at the top of the site.[4]
A trademark application filed by Cornell University describes the bear mark as “a stylized bear attacking forward through, and with its paws around, a stylized upper-case letter ‘C’.” The application specifies that the bear appears in brown with a black outline and black details, including the claws, inside portion of the ears, and lining and shading around the eyes, muzzle, nose, and mouth.[5]
Meaning and Symbolism
Cornell’s principal color is Cornell Red, also known as Carnelian Red. The university’s brand center specifies that the logo must be rendered in Cornell red (PMS 187), white, or black.[6] The importance of red is historical rather than symbolic: Cornell Athletics explicitly traces the color to the 1868 inauguration and the first Cornell banner.[1]
The term “Big Red” derives directly from that color tradition rather than from an animal or symbolic concept. The bear developed independently as an unofficial mascot and became a recognizable representation of Cornell athletics after the appearance of Touchdown in 1915.[1]
Typography and Design
Cornell’s broader visual identity uses Cornell Red as the primary recognition device, supported by university wordmarks and approved typography rather than a single mandatory athletics crest. The university’s brand center provides guidelines for the Cornell logo and seal, requiring that the logo appear only once on a homepage or communications piece and that no one attempt to create art for the Cornell logo, seal, or wordmark for any application.[7]
The bear should be understood correctly within this system. It is a longstanding athletic symbol and popular mascot character, but Cornell explicitly states that it does not have an official mascot.[1] That distinction separates the Big Red identity from universities whose athletic marks are formally centered on a specific animal mascot.
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