Auburn University has accumulated a number of traditions in its 162-year history. The most popular and lively traditions are of Auburn's two mascots: Aubie the Tiger, and The War Eagle.Auburn University has accumulated a number of traditions in its 162-year history. The most popular and lively traditions are of Auburn's two mascots: Aubie the Tiger and The War Eagle.
Aubie the Tiger is perhaps the most recognizable Auburn tradition. For the past 40 years, this mascot has fearlessly brought joy and excitement to students, professors and fans alike.
Aubie was first created by Phil Neel as a cartoon on a 1959 football program when Auburn played Hardin Simmons. In 1962, he began to stand upright on the programs, and in 1963, he started to wear clothes. He remained on the cover for the next 18 years, which saw the Tigers football team go 63-16-2.
In 1979, three years after he was retired from the program covers, Aubie first came to life at the SEC men's basketball tournament. There, he helped lead the ninth-seed Tigers to the semifinals.
Since his creation, Aubie has won a record nine Universal Cheerleaders Association national championships, the first in 1991, and the most recent in 2016. He was also one of the first three mascots inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2006.
Now, Aubie shows up everywhere from football games to RBD and can be seen spinning his tail, wobbling his head and filling all who surround him with the Auburn spirit.
While Aubie is Auburn's official mascot, the phrase "War Eagle" is equally ingrained in the University's history.
When talking about the origins of the Auburn eagles, the myths are most often repeated than the facts.
Legend has it that the first War Eagle was found wounded after the Battle of the Wilderness during the Civil War. After nursing the eagle back to health, the Confederate soldier who found the eagle eventually became a professor at Auburn.
Then, in the 1892 football game against Georgia, the War Eagle broke away from the professor and circled high above the field while the Tigers drove down the field for the winning touchdown. Following the victory, the War Eagle fell to the ground and died, forever immortalizing the story.
Auburn's first document War Eagle can be found in a copy of The New York Times from November of 1930. This eagle became entangled in a mass of pea vines in Bee Hive, Alabama, and was then purchased by 14 individuals and businesses. The bird was then donated to the Auburn football team and cheerleading squad. After being put in a strong cage, the eagle was taken to the football game against South Carolina on Thanksgiving Day, which Auburn won in a major 25-7 upset.
This was not the origin of the phrase "War Eagle," though, because the Times reported that it was already in use. The most likely origin story goes like this:
During a 1913 pep rally in Langdon Hall cheerleader Gus Graydon said that to win the upcoming football game against Georgia the team would have to "get out there and fight, because this means war." At the same time another student, E. T. Enslen, was in his military uniform and noticed something had dropped from his hat. He bent and picked up the small metal emblem of an eagle, held it and yelled, "It's a War Eagle!"
Whatever the true origin is, the phrase became deeply entrenched in the Auburn tradition and lives on through the two current War Eagles, Nova and Spirit, who circle Jordan-Hare Stadium before home football games.
Auburn, as a University, retains a deep devotion to its traditions. Tigers, national championships, legends, myths and "War Eagle" cries all find themselves woven intricately into the fabric of Auburn. They remind the students of the University's past and keep them excited about its present.
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