Washington University in St. Louis
Missouri
1853
The Washington University alumni association adopted red and green as the school colors of the university in 1890. The colors were often alliteratively described as “myrtle and maroon”, but these are not the true shades of the university’s colors. By 1916, so much confusion had arisen over the official colors that Washington’s chancellor, Frederic A. Hall, formed a committee to determine the correct shades of the university’s colors. The committee concluded that although the university colors were officially “a rich red and green”, a popular campus song from 1897 called “The Myrtle and the Maroon” was largely responsible for the misperception of the college colors. The committee report said that “the title of [the song] appears to have had a most unfortunate effect upon the colors of the University, which have gradually changed from a combination as first adopted to very dull and dark colors known as myrtle and maroon.”
In spite of the committee’s report, Washington’s colors continued to be poetically described as “myrtle and maroon” for many years afterwards, and even today the university uses a “myrtle” green instead of the official “rich” shade of green the alumni association originally chose for the university in 1890.
Citations in the World Almanac (listed by cover date; color information is from the previous year): crimson/green (1895); myrtle/maroon (1896-1912); red/green (1913-1918); myrtle/maroon (1923-1931); red/green (1934-1935)
Although it may have been assigned earlier, the academic hood lining design for Washington University is first cited in a 1918 Encyclopedia Americana article on academic costume written by Gardner Cotrell Leonard, the Director of the Intercollegiate Bureau of Academic Costume (IBAC). Leonard stated that the university had been assigned a hood lining that was “myrtle green” with a red chevron. In 1927 and 1948 IBAC lists, the chevron was described as cardinal in color, and by 1969 the Bureau was simply (and correctly) describing Washington’s hood as green with a red chevron. A 1972 IBAC list reverted to myrtle green with a cardinal chevron.
It is worth noting that the Intercollegiate Bureau usually described the university’s hood lining as “myrtle green” but “maroon” was never used to describe the color of the chevron.
