Presbyterian College
South Carolina
1880
Detailed information about the history of the garnet and Presbyterian blue school colors of Presbyterian College is not available at this time, but the college’s sports teams were known as the “Blue Stockings” or the “Blue Hose” in the early 1900s, and the shade of blue commonly known as “Presbyterian Blue” is a “true blue” of medium blue.
Citations in the World Almanac (listed by cover date; color information is from the previous year): garnet/blue (1923-1935)
Academic hood lists published by the Intercollegiate Bureau of Academic Costume (IBAC) in 1927, 1948, and 1972 described Presbyterian College as having a hood lined garnet with a navy blue chevron. It is not known whether this was a hood lining pattern that had been officially assigned by the IBAC or merely a record of the college’s school colors applied to a hypothetical hood lining arrangement, but if this was an official registration by the Bureau, the color sample Presbyterian College sent to the IBAC must have been darker than the official Presbyterian blue used by the college. In any case it was a unique hood lining not used by any other college or university at the time. Here the school’s traditional shade of Presbyterian blue has been restored.
