Lipscomb Bisons is the athletic identity of Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, whose teams compete in NCAA Division I as members of the ASUN Conference. The university fields 17 Division I teams under the Bisons name, with purple and gold as the school’s official colors. [1]
Design and History
In December 2011, Lipscomb Athletics introduced a new set of logos designed by Luke Flener of Prolific and Logan Hartline of Hartline Studio, both Lipscomb graduates. The redesign was intended to reflect the program’s position as an NCAA Division I institution while respecting its tradition. Trevor Garrett, then associate athletic director for external affairs, described the goal as “a classic but fresh design” that incorporated “some of the latest design trends.” [2]
The 2011 identity included an interlocked purple-and-gold “LU” monogram. That mark proved short-lived. Liberty University, which had trademarked its own interlocking LU logo in 2011, contacted Lipscomb about the similarity. Lipscomb officials decided to discontinue the mark rather than pursue litigation, with Vice President of Marketing and Communication Deby Samuels saying the school chose “to simply return to using the word Lipscomb.” [3]
Following the LU dispute, Lipscomb adopted a stand-alone letter “L” as its primary athletic mark, a design used from approximately 2014 through 2020. [4] Around 2020, the athletics program updated its identity again, introducing a split-color purple and gold bison head and full-body bison marks paired with the “LIPSCOMB” wordmark, along with a secondary roundel featuring arched “Lipscomb Bisons” text surrounding the primary L monogram. [5] [6]
Meaning and Symbolism
The bison imagery reflects the athletic nickname, which the university has used since the first basketball game in 1931. [2] The mascot is LU the Bison. [7] The university’s official athletics page describes fans as “United in support of the Herd,” a reference to the bison nickname. [1]
Typography and Design
The 2011 wordmark used a bold lettering style in gold with purple accents, designed to match the primary LU and L marks of that period. [8] The current identity pairs the bison illustrations with a “LIPSCOMB” wordmark rendered in gold lettering with purple trim. [5]
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