Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
A spirit that is not afraid

Auburn Bookstore carries on gameday button tradition

<p>Auburn fan Joe Hurd shows off his collection of Auburn pins and buttons on his gameday hat in the Student Center. Auburn vs Georgia State on Saturday, Sep. 2 in Auburn, Ala.</p>

Auburn fan Joe Hurd shows off his collection of Auburn pins and buttons on his gameday hat in the Student Center. Auburn vs Georgia State on Saturday, Sep. 2 in Auburn, Ala.

 In the Student Section on gamedays, there is a sea of students sporting round gameday buttons in support of the Tigers.

The buttons can be customized for an organization, the game and the team. For example, Greek organizations on campus make their own buttons to wear on gamedays. The Auburn University Bookstore also makes a custom button for each of Auburn’s home games.

The Auburn Bookstore is a major hub where people get their buttons for every gameday.

Christopher Green, marketing specialist in the bookstore, is one of the main people in charge of the buttons for the year.

As for the designs that go on the buttons every year, Green, who just recently came into his position, said they are heavily determined by their vendor, but he hopes to get more involved in the process.

Students, faculty and alumni are on the mailing list to suggest creative slogans for the buttons each year for a chance to be a part of the gameday button tradition.

“What I really want to do is determine a character count for the buttons because we put out a call for slogan lines, and I’d like to give them a tangible idea for design,” Green said.

These buttons are for anyone to wear. The goal of the AU Bookstore is not to make money off the buttons, but to give fans something fun on gameday, Green said.

“We don’t actually sell them,” Green said. “We give them out. Students have 500 set aside. They can show their ignited card at the scholarship desk, and they can get a free button. We give them out on Fridays with a purchase. Then Saturday, we just give them out to anyone who wants one, no purchase necessary. Online orders during game week also get buttons in their packages,” Green said.

The buttons are customized for games occasionally, and last year some were very popular.

According to Green, the buttons that said, “LS-WHO” and “UGA-LY” were the ones that were most popular.

The most recent button said “Wanna-Bees,” referring to the game against Alabama State University.

“Since people in Auburn dress so nicely and try to look presentable at games, we wear the buttons to represent our organizations and show our pride for the things we are in and love since it is not shown through the clothes we wear,” said Emma Mathews, freshman in pre-interior design. “The buttons unite us as a community to recognize what we are a part of.”

The tradition has been going on at Auburn since the 1980s. It is such a long-lasting part of Auburn gamedays that it cannot be called a trend, but rather a tradition, Green said.


Share and discuss “Auburn Bookstore carries on gameday button tradition” on social media.