THE ACADEMIC SEAL

The academic seal of Rice University was designed in 1912 by Pierre de Chaignon la Rose of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who combined the main elements of the coats of arms of sixteen prominent families bearing the names Rice or Houston. Owls of Athena-symbolic of wisdom-were chosen for the charges. The Athenian owls on the Rice seal were patterned after a design found on a small, silver tetradrachmenon coin dating from the middle of the 5th century B.C. Because Rice University was dedicated by its founder to the advancement of "letters, science, and art," these words also were incorporated into the seal.

MASCOT: OWL

When athletic activities began at The Rice Institute in 1912, the Rice intercollegiate teams adopted the owl as their mascot. Over the years, interpretations of the mascot have included students dressed in owl costumes, live great horned owls, and large owl statues of canvas and of fiberglass.

COLORS: BLUE AND GRAY

In 1912, Rice's first president, Edgar Odell Lovett, chose as the school colors "a blue still deeper than the Oxford blue" and "the Confederate gray, enlivened by a tinge of lavender."

ALMA MATER: RICE'S HONOR

All for Rice's Honor, we will fight on.
We will be fighting when this day is done;
And when the dawn comes breaking.
We'll be fighting on, Rice, for the Gray and Blue.
We will be loyal, to Rice be true.

    (To the tune of "Our Director March,"
    written by Ben H. Mitchell '24 in 1922)

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