The UT Arlington Mavericks are the intercollegiate athletics teams of the University of Texas at Arlington, competing in NCAA Division I. The university’s official colors are Blue (PMS 293) and Orange (PMS 158), as listed on the athletics department’s official fact sheet.[1]
Design and History
The current athletics identity centers on a horse’s head, a visual tied to the Mavericks nickname. The term “maverick” derives from Samuel Maverick, a Texas landowner whose name came to denote an unbranded calf or an independent person.[2] The first Maverick mascot was a horned horse, and later versions were patterned after Sam Maverick himself.[2]
In 2006, the university launched a new institutional logo as part of a branding campaign called “Be A Maverick.” Unveiled on February 15, 2006, the mark featured a blue A trimmed in orange with a blue and white beveled star also trimmed in orange.[3] The beveled star echoed stars found in earlier institutional seals from the North Texas Agricultural College and Arlington State College eras.[4]
That same year, a separate student-driven process led to a new mascot. After a campuswide vote in spring 2007, students replaced the cowboy personas Sam and Samantha Maverick with a white horse’s head outlined in orange with a blue mane.[5] The mascot redesign committee worked with Design Texas, an upper-level graphic design course, and Rebecca Duff, a senior, served as principal designer.[5] The university’s graphic identity guidelines described this line drawing as the official visual representation of the Maverick mascot.[6]
By 2010, the horse’s head had been incorporated into the athletics primary logo, appearing as a right-facing white horse with a blue mane and orange details above arched “MAVERICKS” and “UT ARLINGTON” wordmarks.[7] The earlier 2006 UTA monogram with the star on the A continued in use as an alternate athletics mark.[8]
Meaning and Symbolism
The horse’s head directly represents the Mavericks nickname and its Texas heritage. The university’s official mascot guidelines described the white horse’s head outlined in orange with a blue mane as the approved representation of the Maverick identity.[6] The star element in the 2006 institutional mark referenced the stars used in the university’s earlier seals.[4]
Typography and Design
Documented typography details for the current athletics wordmarks are limited. The 2010 primary logo features arched “MAVERICKS” and “UT ARLINGTON” text in blue and orange, with the horse’s head positioned above the wordmarks.[7] The university maintains brand standards through its Office of Marketing, Messaging, and Engagement, which provides guidelines for logo usage across print, digital, and social media platforms.[9]
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