The navy blue and burnt orange colors that are one of Auburn’s identifying traits became part of Auburn’s history over a century ago.
Though there are several philosophies on how the colors first appeared in Auburn’s timeline, one claims they were chosen during Auburn’s first football game against the University of Georgia in 1892, according to the Auburn Athletics website.
To rally support for the first game, promoters decided Auburn, known as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama at the time, needed colors, according to associate professor emeritus Dale Coleman, who has been invited to share his research of Auburn traditions with the SEC Network, Camp War Eagle and War Eagle Girls and Plainsmen.
Miss “Allie” Glenn, who became a treasurer of Auburn University, knew coach George Petrie’s alma mater, the University of Virginia, had recently picked orange and blue for its team colors and suggested Auburn do the same, Coleman said.
“Football as we know it now started up in the New England states in the northeast,” Coleman said. “So when schools in the South here were trying to get momentum, trying to get people to accept football, they borrowed a lot of the customs and traditions of the North just to kind of help jumpstart things down here.”
She sewed an orange A on a dark blue sweater to show Petrie how the colors looked together.
“Dr. Petrie liked how it looked, and so they became our colors, simple as that,” Coleman said.
Leading up to the game, newspapers encouraged Auburn fans to dress in the newly minted athletic colors.
However, it wasn’t until 1949 that the board of trustees formalized the colors, which were recorded in the minutes as "ultramarine" and "golden orange," according to Coleman.
Over the years, the colors have evolved to take on a shinier, glossier look compared to the color dyed on wool sweaters, Coleman said.
The Auburn University Style Guide & Identification Standards Manual specifies the Pantone spot colors and recommended process color matches for use across several media.
“There are a lot of legends about things at Auburn that I’m saying, ‘Where did that come from?’ Coleman said. “And you realize that so many of the legends aren’t true but this one over here, there is a real historical background to that one. That’s when the students really did start wearing orange and blue.”
Coleman gathered information through old Glomeratas, student newspapers and alumni news magazines to stitch together the story of Auburn’s colors.
“Anybody else can walk in the library and do the same thing,” Coleman said. “It just takes time and interest.”
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