Shaw Bears is the athletic identity of Shaw University, a historically Black university in Raleigh, North Carolina, and a founding member of the NCAA Division II Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA). The university’s official colors are garnet and white, a fact confirmed by a 1924 letter from Shaw University to W. E. B. Du Bois.[1]
Design and History
On March 22, 2019, Shaw University Athletics unveiled a new primary logo after “months of research and preparation.”[2] The redesign introduced a new bear mascot, described by the school as paying “tribute to the University’s past while modernizing the look through graphics, colors and lettering.”[3]
Shaw Athletics partnered with Phoenix Design Works, a national brand identity firm, to create the new mark.[2] The logo development process included focus groups made up of administration, coaches, current and former student-athletes, and alumni, whose recommendations shaped the direction of the new marks.[4]
The new identity features a bear with gold trimming around the word “Shaw” and a traditional banner at the bottom covered in garnet and white.[2] Shaw University President Dr. Paulette Dillard said the new bear was “a better, stronger visual representation of the Shaw Bear spirit,” adding that it “looks extremely powerful, and that sends a good message about who we are.”[4]
Meaning and Symbolism
The university described the new logo as embodying “the fierce, competitive and focused spirit of the Shaw Bears.”[2] The garnet and white banner directly reflects the university’s official colors, which have been documented since at least 1924.[1]
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