Miami University
Ohio
1809
Students at Miami University in Ohio formed two literary societies in 1825, each with its own color: red was the color of the Erodelphian Society and white was the color of the Union Society. Most Miami students were members of one of these societies, so in 1889 a committee of students chose red and white as the university colors to be used at athletic events. These colors were then approved by the faculty and entire student body. The official shade of red is bright, and “scarlet” is often used to describe the color.
Citations in the World Almanac (listed by cover date; color information is from the previous year): red/white (1895); crimson/white (1906); scarlet/white (1908-1910); crimson/white (1911); red/white (1912-1915); crimson/white (1916-1918); red/white (1923-1935)
The Ohio State Normal College was a client of academic costume manufacturer Cotrell & Leonard in 1902, according to Concerning Caps, Gowns and Hoods: Bulletin 17 (1902). But no description of the college’s hood is given in the catalogue, and it is not certain to which of two Ohio schools this catalogue citation refers, as the first Ohio State Normal Colleges opened at Miami University and at Ohio University in 1902. Since Cotrell & Leonard was also the depository of the Intercollegiate Bureau of Academic Costume (IBAC), the IBAC must have assigned a hood lining pattern to one (or both) of these universities by 1902 at the latest.
The first definitive and complete IBAC description of Miami University’s hood lining is in 1918 where it is stated to be bright red with a white chevron, a description that is unchanged in all subsequent Intercollegiate Bureau lists.
The Bureau seems to have employed a bit of rhetorical deception in creating Miami’s hood assignment, as “bright red” was an IBAC synonym for a scarlet shade of red. As such, the IBAC essentially duplicated the hood lining it had already assigned to Boston University (scarlet with white chevron) in 1896 or 1897. To resolve this problem, Miami has been reassigned a red (scarlet) lining with a white horizontal bar, a heraldic division the Intercollegiate Bureau was using to resolve duplications of this sort by 1902, although not in this particular case.
