The UNC Wilmington Seahawks are the NCAA Division I athletic teams of the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW), a public university in Wilmington, North Carolina. The university’s athletics teams compete in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). The Seahawks nickname was selected in 1947, the year the institution was founded as Wilmington College, because of the popularity of the Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks and Wilmington’s proximity to the water.[1]
Design and History
The current primary athletics logo is the Seahawk head, a mark introduced in 2015 that has become the top identifier for both athletics and the university.[2] In August 2025, UNCW Athletics announced a brand refresh for the 2025-26 academic year that promoted this Seahawk head from secondary to primary status and adjusted its teal color to match a university-wide update.[2][3]
The 2015 Seahawk head logo was designed by Joe Bosack & Co., a design firm whose portfolio includes work for Wichita State, Xavier University and Mississippi State.[4] The design process took about a year and involved input from athletes, students, faculty and staff. UNCW auxiliary services funded the $26,500 design process.[4] The new mark was unveiled January 28, 2015, at a Seahawks men’s basketball game against Elon University.[4]
The 2015 logo was the sixth insignia used by UNCW Athletics.[5] Its predecessor, which debuted in 1992, was created by local artist Gary Longordo and featured a futuristic masked bird with a wave incorporated into the drawing.[6] When that logo was introduced, navy was added as a secondary color to the school’s palette.[1]
The 2025 refresh also added a pair of wordmarks to the athletics identity. The refreshed UNCW wordmark is described as an overall simplification of the 2015 variant that adds subtle hints to the curvature of Seahawk wings in the letter U. A custom script was also introduced as new to the visual identity.[2][3]
Meaning and Symbolism
The original school colors of kelly green and yellow were chosen in 1947 to represent the color of the ocean and the nearby sandy beaches of the Wilmington coast.[1] In 2009, the Student Government Association officially recognized teal as the university’s primary color.[1]
The 2015 Seahawk head logo uses negative space to create a seahawk head out of a blue and green triangle, with the top of the seahawk head forming a white W, a nod to Wilmington.[7] The previous 1992 logo was described by UNCW’s senior associate athletic director as “a wonderful piece of art,” but the department sought something more “aggressive” and “aspirational” for the 2015 redesign.[4]
Typography and Design
In July 2025, UNCW adopted a brighter, more vibrant teal color across all marketing and communication platforms. The new teal is PMS 7714, RGB (0, 117, 128) or Hex #007680.[8] The Seahawk head primary logo features this adjusted teal color that UNCW is using school-wide.[2]
The Seahawk logo is the official and only insignia of the UNC Wilmington athletic teams and is service marked, with the SM symbol required as part of the logo.[9] The university maintains a separate institutional “house” logo for academic, business and professional use outside athletics.[10]
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