The Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls are the athletic teams of Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU), a private historically Black university in Charlotte, North Carolina. The university’s teams compete in NCAA Division II and have been members of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) since 1926.[1] The athletics nickname is the Golden Bulls, and the mascot is Smitty the Golden Bull.[2]
Design and History
The university’s official colors are gold and navy blue.[3] The athletics department specifies these as Gold (PSC 7406) and Navy Blue (PMS 296).[3] The school colors date to 1895, when a committee of three students, supervised by a faculty member, selected gold and blue as the colors of Biddle University, the institution that later became Johnson C. Smith University.[4]
JCSU’s brand guidelines describe the Golden Bull as the university’s mascot image. The guidelines state that the words “Bull” or “Bulls” should never be used without “Golden” when referring to the mascot or the university’s sports teams, and that the Golden Bull image should always be printed along with the full school name or the term “Golden Bulls.”[5] The Golden Bull is usually rendered in JCSU Gold, and the image typically cannot be altered or dressed up.[5]
Meaning and Symbolism
When the gold and blue colors were selected for Biddle University in 1895, gold symbolized “steadfastness to the individual” and blue symbolized “loyalty to the cause or school.” The shade of blue chosen was navy, sometimes called “admiral blue.”[4]
Typography and Design
JCSU’s brand guidelines specify that the university logo uses Classic Roman lettering, with the logo available in JCSU Gold, JCSU Blue, all white, or all black. The guidelines require that every word in the university name be the same matching color.[5] The university’s primary colors remain gold and blue, now supported by additional accent colors including gold fini, blue fini, middle blue, and gray.[6]
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