Claflin University
South Carolina
1869
Detailed historical information about the orange and maroon school colors of Claflin University is not available at this time, but it appears that in the 19th century Claflin’s colors were originally old gold and maroon.
Citations in the World Almanac (listed by cover date; color information is from the previous year): old gold/red (1896); old gold/maroon (1902); orange/maroon (1904-1935)
Academic hood lists published by the Intercollegiate Bureau of Academic Costume (IBAC) in 1927, 1948, and 1972 described Claflin University as having a hood lined orange with a maroon chevron. Whether this was a hood lining pattern that had been officially assigned by the IBAC in the early 1900s or merely a record of the university’s school colors applied to a hypothetical hood lining arrangement is unknown, but either way it was a unique hood lining not used by any other college or university at the time.
