The Southern Miss Golden Eagles are the athletic teams of the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The program’s visual identity centers on an eagle head mark in black and gold, a palette that has belonged to the university since its founding era.
Design and History
The current Golden Eagles logo is an eagle head design created by Hattiesburg-based firm Rare Design, led by Southern Miss alumnus Rodney Richardson. The mark received official trademark status from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in July 2015 and was publicly released on July 15, 2015, at a launch event on the Hattiesburg campus.[1]
The 2015 logo was not the first eagle head mark from Rare Design. Southern Miss adopted an earlier eagle head logo in 2003, also developed by Richardson and Rare Design, which replaced athletic marks that had been in use for more than a decade.[2] That 2003 design was described at its unveiling as an eagle head with a sleek, modern, fierce look, intended to serve as the primary mark across uniforms, publications, merchandise and marketing materials.[2]
The need for the 2015 redesign came from a legal ruling. In 2011, the USPTO Trademark Trial and Appeal Board determined that Southern Miss’s logo too closely resembled the University of Iowa’s Hawkeye logo, with the board stating that the “overall similarity in appearance of the marks on the goods, particularly in light of the use of identical color schemes, creates virtually identical commercial impressions.”[3] Southern Miss was ordered to change its logo.[4]
In November 2014, Southern Miss unveiled two final logo options, a “Dynamic Eye” presentation and a “Traditional Eye” design, and invited fans to vote and comment.[4] After stakeholder feedback and consultation with Rare Design and licensing counsel, the university selected the Traditional Eye logo and initiated the trademark registration process in December 2014.[5] The new mark was described as similar to the previous eagle head but with a more streamlined look incorporating more black than the earlier design.[6]
Richardson, speaking about the 2015 redesign, said it was time for the identity to evolve as the athletic department had grown, while preserving values of character, pride, authenticity and strength.[7]
Meaning and Symbolism
Black and gold have been Southern Miss’s colors since the institution’s early days. Florence Burrow Pope, a member of the school’s first class in 1912, served on a committee charged with selecting colors no other Mississippi college had adopted. Pope suggested black and gold, the student body voted for them, and the colors have remained ever since.[2]
The Golden Eagles nickname itself dates to 1972, when alumni, faculty, students and staff submitted name suggestions and an ad hoc committee appointed by the Alumni Association selected Golden Eagles over Raiders, War Lords, Timber Wolves and Southerners.[2]
Richardson described the design intent behind the 2003 mark as creating “a classic athletic identity inspired by a strong tradition modernized to reflect the Southern Miss spirit of perseverance and achievement,” summarized as “Bold. Clean. Timeless.”[2]
Typography and Design
The 2003 identity process, conducted by Rare Design with the athletics department over nearly a year, included research into the department’s history, exploration of color stories and graphic directions, and testing of concepts in focus groups. The process also involved completing the eagle mark with accompanying typefaces and supporting marks.[2]
In January 2022, Southern Miss athletics introduced a new script “Southern Miss” word mark for exclusive use by the baseball and softball programs. The athletics department said the word mark was designed to increase brand recognition and featured “a timeless and versatile look” for licensed merchandise and uniforms.[8]
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