Did your high school use a logo from a pro or college team? If so, which one?
Posted by tu-vens-tu-vens@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 239 comments
Perdendosi@reddit
No. I've seen some schools do that, though. As a lawyer, I'd be nervous about doing it today than I would have been 40 years ago because of the prevalence of the internet.
For their fight song, my school did use the melody from the University of Wisconsin's "On Wisconsin" but with words written by students and teachers from our school. Interesting trademark/copyright issues there (though I believe that our bands bought legit copies of the song to play from, so we might have been OK.)
YellojD@reddit
The NFL is (or, was until recently, at least) usually pretty lenient with high schools using their logos. They just don’t want them to make too many modifications to it.
WarrenMulaney@reddit
What about things like "G" the Green Bay Packers helmets and the University of Georgia using the exact same design?
I've seen high school teams use it as well.
Grouchy-Big-229@reddit
My high school used the G and also Clemson’s paw print.
MyUsername2459@reddit
It's my understanding that a lot of schools that have those logos now have actually licensed them. Some pro sports teams have programs where they license their logo/brand to local public schools for their athletic teams for a pretty reasonable rate.
I think it didn't start like that, but some teams realized that rather than risk bad PR for suing the Podunk County High School for their name, they'd rather write up a formal licensing agreement, let them pay a token fee, and thus protect their trademark while not risking bad PR.
Weightmonster@reddit
Interesting.
Arkyguy13@reddit
My high school also used "On Wisconsin" for our fight song. I always thought that was weird because we aren't anywhere near Wisconsin. Maybe it's just easy to get rights for.
jamiesugah@reddit
Same! I'm from PA and "On Wisconsin" was our fight song. I have no idea why.
hsj713@reddit
California here. Our HS also used On Wisconsin and our mascot was the Panthers.
MLXIII@reddit
Old songs are usually public domain so fair game.
HughLouisDewey@reddit
We used Minnesota Rouser, even though we were in Georgia.
Which at least did set us apart from all the schools that used Georgia's fight song.
yttrium39@reddit
It’s easy for the marching band to play.
abbot_x@reddit
"On, Wisconsin!" is in the public domain. It is possibly the most common tune for fight songs.
kinghawkeye8238@reddit
My school has its own logo(pretty cool actually) but we use Notre dames fight song. Lol
saggywitchtits@reddit
Iowa City High has the Hawkeye logo as part of their logo while being in the same city as the Hawkeyes. There's absolutely ways to allow it.
QuarterNote44@reddit
Onward Lancers?
JoshHuff1332@reddit
On Wisconsin is public domain, no copyright issues, at least anymore. It's also been the official state song since 1959.
IanDOsmond@reddit
Well, the first verse is the state song. The rest of it, who knows. Up for grabs, I guess.
HerrLouski@reddit
Came to say this. Many high schools near me used professional team logos about 20 years ago. Nowadays it seems that they all received cease and desist letters and changed things up. It’s all generic letters as their logo whereas I remember Vikings, Eagles, Falcons, etc.
pinniped90@reddit
Generally I think high schools are doing it with the permission of the university.
For example I know a high school that uses the Powercat logo and licenses it from K State for $1 a year. It has to abide by a few rules on how it's used (like don't do anything distasteful with it) and it can't be used in either of archrival KU's colors.
College songs get reused all the time. Wisconsin, Illinois, and a couple other Big Ten songs are everywhere since they're some of the oldest college songs.
djninjacat11649@reddit
My school did similar, though it used Michigan state’s fight song I think
Awdayshus@reddit
Lots of college fight songs are probably old enough to be in the public domain now. The tune of On, Wisconsin! was composed in 1909. The Copyright Act of 1976 would mean that the tune of On, Wisconsin! entered public domain January 1, 1980.
abbot_x@reddit
"On, Wisconsin" has been widely used as a fight song for decades. It passed into the public domain by the 1980s if not earlier.
I don't think there's a trademark issue because nobody is going to think some random high school whose fight song uses the tune "On, Wisconsin!" but with different lyrics is actually the University of Wisconsin. If you think about it there are not that many tunes to fight songs, alma maters, etc. but we don't confuse them.
TsundereLoliDragon@reddit
I'm pretty sure my high school's was Navy Blue and Gold which is the Naval Academy's song.
Comediorologist@reddit
Some years ago I was traveling north from a Vikings / Panthers game in Charlotte. I had a Vikings enamel pin in my hat, and a Charlottesville bartender asked if it was for the Woodbridge, Virginia HS team.
No. The NFL team. Dude. Wtf?
Vert354@reddit
Hey! That's my high school! It's 100% a palette swap on the logo.
That bartender was pretty dense...
kckitty71@reddit
That’s my high school, too. But our colors were blue and gold.
YellojD@reddit
Totally different high school, but also went to a blue and gold Vikings high school.
Appropriate_Bird_223@reddit
No, we had our own logo, but our fight song was to the music of the Minnesota Gophers fight song (and no I'm not from Minnesota).
YellojD@reddit
Yup. Vikings, but just the head. We had our own shield as our main logo. It was pretty cool. Depicted an old Viking ship rowing in tandem over the lake with our famous mountain in the background.
Then my junior year they just changed to the 49ers logo but in blue, and with the SF swapped to ST.
redheadMInerd2@reddit
My high school team was the Spartans. Same fight song as MSU. But we were in Ohio less than 5 miles from the Michigan border.
RsonW@reddit
Our logo was unique to us (an N and a U superimposed, nothing fancy).
But our football helmets were University of Michigan's.
doodynutz@reddit
Yeah, I think it’s Wisconsin’s W. Which we are in Kentucky so it took me a long time to realize this.
League-Ill@reddit
Michigan State same colors and all.
w_benjamin@reddit
Central High School in Manchester, NH lost the use of it's school colors to Concord, NH and switched from crimson to forest green at the start of the 20th century. Because they had the same color scheme as Dartmouth College they were called The Little Green as Dartmouth was 'The Big Green'. The adoption of the indian head logo from Dartmouth took place in the 1920's, probably around 1925 when Dartmouth won the national football championship. Dartmouth discontinued the use of the indian head in the 70's, but Central kept it until just a couple years ago.
sabatoa@reddit
When I was in HS, the logo was a re-colored copy of 1966-1996 era Minnesota Vikings logo. They changed it to an original design maybe 5-7 years later. That design is dope af and I’m jealous we didn’t have it.
tarheel_204@reddit
Ours was a blue version of the NY Jets logo
tu-vens-tu-vens@reddit (OP)
It’s because the NFL doesn’t want the bad press, and high schools aren’t using the logos to profit.
tarheel_204@reddit
Fair enough. There was always the irony though of schools preaching about how plagiarism is bad yet they all steal copyrighted logos lol (I realize there are much bigger fish to fry too)
remes1234@reddit
No. But my school did use uniforms very similar to a local university, including the helmet design.
Cyclonian@reddit
Ours was a blue version of Texas Tech.
Mr_Lobo4@reddit
We had the Eagles logo, but flipped and colored orange
Particular_Night_360@reddit
It wasn’t there when I was in highschool. It was years after college that I came back and the hats they were wearing were the exact same as my college logo. It’s kinda cool though, it’s an L with a birds head in it. The one I know is a pretty specific native thunder bird. Plenty of schools are named this, but ours was designed by the local res.
witchy12@reddit
Nope, Our school is fairly new (built in the early 2000s) and we had a custom-made logo and fight song.
Bstallio@reddit
Ours was a blue version of the Michigan state Spartans
IAlwaysSayBoo-urns@reddit
The Green Bay G but different colors.
Remarkable_Inchworm@reddit
Mine didn't, but our uniforms were pretty aggressively modeled after pro teams.
We wore green and gold - so our baseball team looked like the A's and the football team looked like the Packers.
botulizard@reddit
When I was there it didn't, and I guess they still don't, but the current logo is obviously styled after Ohio State's and the football team's uniforms are basically copies of their football team's.
TwincessAhsokaAarmau@reddit
No
Weightmonster@reddit
If they do that, make sure the teams do not find out about it, especially the professional ones. Those logos are copyrighted. They can’t even say “Superbowl” on the radio because it’s copyrighted.
Quix66@reddit
Not when I was in school in the 80s, and my neighborhood has even switched school districts, but for a while my alma mater used the Buffaloes logo. There was a live buffalo named Buffy back in the day when I was in school.
Bright_Ices@reddit
We had our own, as did all the junior high and high schools in my city.
kartoffel_engr@reddit
Nope……pretty sure we’re the only ones using a mushroom cloud.
RecommendationBig768@reddit
no, that would have been a copyright violation. and our school would have been sued.
BoseSounddock@reddit
We had a few. 2 were original artwork but one was straight up the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors “H” logo just with different colors.
Ok_Listen1510@reddit
no im pretty sure that’s be against copyright las
rilakkuma1@reddit
Ours was a blue version of the Philadelphia Eagles. I just went and checked and it looks like they've since changed it to a custom eagle logo.
NateLPonYT@reddit
Ours was a white eagle with red trim. Very similar to the Eagle’s logo
HonestLemon25@reddit
Same here!
KerryUSA@reddit
Ours was Maroon and Grey version of eagles
The local hbcu is also the eagles and maroon and grey so it makes for a nice transition for a-lot of ppl
Content_Talk_6581@reddit
Ours was a purple and gold version of the Philadelphia Eagles. They also incorporated an M into the feathers so it wouldn’t break copyright law.
DejaBlonde@reddit
Ours was apparently copied from Georgia Tech.
The school song was set to Auld Lang Syne, and I don't remember what the fight song was but I'm sure it's an established tune as well.
DonkeyGlad653@reddit
No we were around way before the Rams.
messibessi22@reddit
I was the rams too!!
peepeepoopooman1412@reddit
Yeah my high school used the old Jacksonville jaguars logo and changed the colors to black and gold
messibessi22@reddit
My colors were black and gold too
messibessi22@reddit
Nope we had our own logo and colors.. mascots and team names get recycled often tho
danathepaina@reddit
I went to California High School. They stole the Cal logo from Berkeley. We also used their fight song. And we were the Grizzlies; they are the Bears. We had different colors though.
Kimberlyjammet@reddit
Patriots
JudgmentalRavenclaw@reddit
The school I work at uses one of the former logos for the Toronto Blue Jays.
flootytootybri@reddit
Nope!
DadooDragoon@reddit
Purple Atlanta Falcons
IanDOsmond@reddit
Why would we do that?
ScottyBBadd@reddit
Technically, my high school is the Eagles.
DryFoundation2323@reddit
That would be trademark infringement. No.
c4ctus@reddit
Mine sorta kinda appropriated the logo from the University of Georgia, except with a D instead of a G.
MrRaspberryJam1@reddit
My high school actually had a unique name and team identity, they were the Huguenots, the French Protestants who settled the area in the 17th century. Our logo was a fleur-de-lis, so technically it’s the New Orleans Saints logo but purple.
Derplord4000@reddit
My first high school used a recolored version of Georgia's secondary logo.
big_sugi@reddit
I started high school in 1993. We used the Patriots’ logo, which coincidentally changed in 1993.
At some point in the past 30 years, the school switched to a new unique logo based on a statue in front of the school. It’s okay, I guess, but I preferred the old one.
lechydda@reddit
No logos, pretty sure those are copyrighted. But two rival schools in my area used the “fight songs” of the two biggest football universities who were also rivals. I guess music isn’t as protected, or maybe they paid for the rights to use it.
big_sugi@reddit
Those fight songs are mostly old enough that any copyright on the music expired decades ago.
For example, my high school uses Ohio State’s “Across the Field.” That was written in 1915, so any copyright that OSU had expired no later than 1971; the maximum copyright duration at the time was 56 years.
DeFiClark@reddit
No.
Ancient-Cat9201@reddit
Yup. University of Florida gators, we stole their chants to. And this is in Colorado
Bluemonogi@reddit
No. The high schools in our town had their own mascots and logos that were not from professional teams.
Playful_Fan4035@reddit
No, that’s against trademark law I would imagine. I’ve never seen a high school use the same as a pro or college team. I’m sure there are tons with the same animal, for example, but not the actual logo.
LawfulnessMajor3517@reddit
Ours was just a dumb ass wave. Probably a stock photo or something.
front_rangers@reddit
Like the Tulane logo?
ThrowawayMod1989@reddit
My middle school was the “Greenwaves” instead of the “Green Wave.” Logo was quite similar and started as the town high school logo. Even my dad isn’t clear on how a town in inland NC got a coastal logo resembling a university in New Orleans lol.
LawfulnessMajor3517@reddit
No, the Tulane logo is a bit more interesting. This was just a boring wave.
CupBeEmpty@reddit
My kid plays against a team that’s just a wave. I always thought it funny because they aren’t even on the ocean proper. They’re inland near a big but isolated bay so they don’t even really get waves.
LawfulnessMajor3517@reddit
We were called the Blue Tide. A wave is not even a tide, but I guess if they had to show a picture of a tide it would be even more boring.
classisttrash@reddit
lol we were the blue waves 🤣
CupBeEmpty@reddit
Did they at least say roll tide a lot?
LawfulnessMajor3517@reddit
I honestly don’t know. I hated school and never participated in anything.
eemanand33n@reddit
We have a wave team in our town. 250 miles away from the closest beach.
CupBeEmpty@reddit
At least this town actually touches the ocean a little bit.
scumbagstaceysEx@reddit
I don’t know about “logo” but we were the “Gaelic Warriors” and our uniforms were carbon copies of Notre Dame in every sport. Down the gold flakes in the spray paint on the helmets.
Other-Opposite-6222@reddit
This feels like a way to go over little schools by the pros. Nice try.
NarrowAd4973@reddit
Our logo was a bridge.
Meilingcrusader@reddit
No but it was similar
crispyrhetoric1@reddit
I work at a school. We take the University of Arizona’s A and turn it upside down.
DizzyLead@reddit
No. We were the “Barristers,” and our football team’s logo was an M with the “scales of justice” superimposed on them.
tmking01@reddit
Texas Tech and I didn’t realize until years after I graduated haha
The_Car_in_the_bar@reddit
My high school and middle school had pretty unique logos. My elementary school ripped off the Philadelphia Eagles, but used different colors. Apparently they’ve since changed the logo.
gomichan@reddit
My HS shared a logo with dif colors with the university of Miami. Iirc they had to pay a fee every year to them because of it
MossiestSloth@reddit
Ours was completely original, but every year or two it winds up in the news somewhere. I'm sure you can figure out why that happens on your own
zack_bauer123@reddit
High school in my area started with W and was the tigers. To my knowledge they’ve used the Washington block W, the Wisconsin W, the LSU tiger helmet and the Missouri tiger helmet, all color swapped to red. Presumably they change when someone finds out and threatens legal action.
Designer-Brief-9145@reddit
Yes, we used a secondary Rutgers logo from the 90s for our Knights. It seems like it's been changed since then, maybe due to a cease and desist.
vallhallaawaits@reddit
Oregon State Beavers. Both logos have since changed.
catiebug@reddit
No, but as "the poor school", our colors mysteriously matched the most popular NFL team of the working class (region with two teams) so kids could wear gear they already owned or borrow/thrift while still showing school spirit. Bad luck for the few kids who grew up liking the other team, lol. But our mascot/logo was not related in any way.
coolpuppybob@reddit
Cal Berkeley
shammy_dammy@reddit
No, neither one did. One was a fairly decent Lancer logo and the other one was...well, a very ugly bulldog.
IllprobpissUoff@reddit
I went to a Catholic high-school.
St. Bernards home of The Saints. We used the same symbol as the NFL saints use.
Roadshell@reddit
No, and straight up, fuck the high schools that do that. There are plenty of graphic designers out there who'd be happy to make them an original logo for cheap.
Rhomya@reddit
I mean, if a high school copied a football teams logo in the 60’s, there’s no point in them going out to change something they’ve used for decades at this point
Roadshell@reddit
The point is to have an identity of your own instead of just stealing one and having 99% of the population will just assume is representing someone else.
Rhomya@reddit
They do have an identity of their own. No one looks at Minnetonka and thinks that they’re the University of Minnesota. Or the Alexandria High school and thinks that they’re the Arizona Cardinals.
They’re still very clearly Minnetonka or Alexandria, and they’ve been using those logos for decades.
Roadshell@reddit
If you saw someone walking around in a "Minnetonka" or "Alexandria" T-shirt and didn't catch any lettering under the logo most people would assume they were looking at a UMN or Arizona Cardinals fan, especially if they weren't from the area.
Rhomya@reddit
I have never looked at a Minnetonka or Alexandria shirt and thought they were the UMN or Arizona. Ever.
And even if someone from out of town saw it and thought that… what’s the harm? It’s a high school logo that isn’t being used for a commercial purpose, and the Gophers or Cardinals would just look like assholes trying to bully smaller communities to give up the logos they’ve used for decades.
Roadshell@reddit
The harm is that a school logo is supposed to say something about the school and forge an identity. All copied logos like this says about them is that they're un-creative plagiarists.
Rhomya@reddit
But when that area has been using that logo for decades? What makes you think that they don’t have an identity around that?
Roadshell@reddit
Because it's an identity that they copied from someone else? Like, why would you want to form an identity around plagiarism. Logos change all the time in sports. Just look at the million different logos the Timberwolves have used. You don't need to cling to something that's obviously lame.
Rhomya@reddit
The Timberwolves making a new logo isn't changing their entire identity. They're still the Timberwolves.
High schools don't have endless resources to pay for constant logo updates, and changing a logo isn't just about hiring a graphic designer. Often there are signs at the school that need replacing, school jersey's and uniforms that need replacing, students have purchased letter jackets and other school items with the old logo. Again, that the area has connected with for decades.
Copyright laws don't exist for ideological reasons. They're to prevent people from profiting and impacting another brands logo, and the Alexandria Cardinals are not impacting the Arizona Cardinals profits.
Roadshell@reddit
I didn't say they had to change their names, just get an original logo that doesn't make them look like lame copycats.
There are probably ways to phase thing things out over time as normal wear necessitates replacements.
I don't care about these being some offense to the teams getting their stuff copied, I'm just saying that ripping off your logo is lame and I think less of any school that does it. It's a bad look.
notsosecretshipper@reddit
No, never. But my elementary school mascot was the vikings and they've changed their logo every so often. I can remember having like 3 different ones while I was there. At some point in the 2000s they just used a recolored Minnesota Vikings logo for several years in a row. I hated it. It looked so much better before when they used their own image. It's a cartoonish viking head now and I still think the old ones were better, but at least they're not using the stolen pro one.
Esmer_Tina@reddit
We were the Tigers and we were nearish Detroit, but our tigers did not resemble the Detroit Tigers.
Jswazy@reddit
Schools use their own logo pretty much all the time. They do borrow the tune for their school song from a university pretty often and just change the words.
tu-vens-tu-vens@reddit (OP)
I find it curious when people say that schools always use their own logos, given that I can think of 5 high schools off the top of my head within a 15-minute radius of where I am that have borrowed college or pro logos.
Jswazy@reddit
At least where I live they are basically all designed for the school specifically usually by a past student or teacher.
According-Couple2744@reddit
No
TheOnlyJimEver@reddit
Yes. Actually, it was the old school Tampa Bay Buccaneers logo. The one from the early 90s. We did it in our own colors.
clearly_not_an_alt@reddit
We were the Eagles but I don't believe it was a copy of a pro or college team, though to be fair, I don't remember what it looked like, only that I don't remember it looking like something else.
44035@reddit
Yes, the Minnesota Vikings. Hopefully they never sue because it's total copyright infringement.
breaststroker42@reddit
We had our own. Though I think one of the sports teams at one point used a recolored version of the Minnesota Vikings logo. We were the vikings but their’s was not actually being our logo.
RealAlePint@reddit
Yes. We were the Trojans which is used by USC but it wasn’t all that similar and we were blue and grey, not the USC scarlet.
Camelus_bactrianus@reddit
Nah, my high school team was the "Greyhounds", so we had the Greyhound Bus livery logo superimposed over the school's initials.
hunterc114@reddit
My high school used the Washington Redskins logo. I think they still use it.
quietly_annoying@reddit
Back in the 90s, ours was essentially a mirror image of the St Louis Cardinals. I just looked at the school's website, and while it's still a red cardinal in profile... It's now a completely different design.
dachjaw@reddit
No, but then there aren’t many (any?) teams called the Fighting Sandcrabs.
I once stopped for lunch in a tiny town in Iowa and they had a display of their local high school’s football uniforms, helmets, and other paraphernalia. It was all exact copies of the Florida Gators, down to the mascot’s image and the script font. I didn’t ask if they had permission.
Bike_Mechanic_Man@reddit
We were the Blue Devils just like Duke, but we used a different logo. But the comparison was always made. And a few times we used it as justification to keep the mascot when someone would decide to be offended about it being a devil.
bananapanqueques@reddit
We had our own. This sounds like a copyright lawsuit waiting to happen.
MetroBS@reddit
They used to but then the pro team sued
ironmanchris@reddit
Nope, I think it was designed by a student in the 1950s. Our fight song was from the Univ of Chicago, with words written by the head of the music department.
taniamorse85@reddit
No, but a lot of the t-shirts they made for clubs and special occasions were inspired by brand logos. I think I still have my shirt for having a top ten GPA, which was styled like the Famous Stars & Straps logo.
shelwood46@reddit
The logos are usually copyrighted so that would be unusual. But also, no.
Rhomya@reddit
Pro sports teams are actually usually very lenient and unlikely to go after high schools for using their logos. A high school isn’t going to use it for a commercial purpose, and it’s not going to interfere with the pro teams brand, and it would be a bad look for professional organizations to go after high schools to bully them for not spending money making their own logos.
Rhomya@reddit
Pro sports teams are actually usually very lenient and unlikely to go after high schools for using their logos. A high school isn’t going to use it for a commercial purpose, and it’s not going to interfere with the pro teams brand, and it would be a bad look for professional organizations to go after high schools to bully them for not spending money making their own logos.
Orbital2@reddit
Loads of high schools in Ohio use logos from college programs..just usually with different colors
Electrical_Iron_1161@reddit
We have a few here that use NFL logos
Eubank31@reddit
Yup, mine was a differently colored Eagles logo
dazzleox@reddit
Not saying it's the statistical norm but it's a somewhat common thing, especially if you include college logos/colors/names too. There are a LOT of fake Green Bay Packers/Grambling Tigers "G's" out there. My neighboring high school used the Florida State Indians spear and helmet logo and even a new school near us just blatantly copied the blue color and logo of the University of North Carolina though with a different first letter.
The NFL according to a quote in the first link prefers not to go after copyright violations for PR reasons but colleges who see new examples are more aggressive.
https://marklavis.medium.com/cut-and-paste-high-school-71252314be3d
https://boards.sportslogos.net/topic/126490-did-your-high-school-copy-a-pro-or-college-team/
Material-Let-9188@reddit
Not me but a local high school was a red sun devils logo
BensOnTheRadio@reddit
Pennsbury Falcons flat out uses the Atlanta Falcons logo.
furie1335@reddit
No. But the neighboring town uses a color swapped image of the Texan’s logo.
WatermelonMachete43@reddit
Green Bay Packers
Sea-Affect8379@reddit
We used to use the Redskins logo. They recently changed it.
Eubank31@reddit
We used a red version of the Eagles logo until my junior year they wiped it from existence and announced a unique one that was actually pretty good
BroCanWeGetLROTNOG@reddit
Yes, our city had the acronym of L, A, so we used the LA symbol from the Los Angeles Dodgers on a lot of our stuff
JanaKaySTL@reddit
No, not many pro teams are "Senators". 😉
Tenchi2020@reddit
Yes, a hawk and our rival school were the eagles
meilingr@reddit
No, my school was the Rebels and the logo was just stylized text of “Rebels”. The original mascot was a confederate soldier so the school just didn’t have a mascot anymore when I went there…
tcspears@reddit
No, my highschool had our own logo and name, not related to any pro teams. That seems like it would be fairly odd, to choose a pro team's name and logo, when there are so many other schools in the state.
Torchic336@reddit
We had 3 logos throughout me starting school and finishing school, not sure why they changed it so much in a short period of time. It started as a recolored Denver Broncos logo, then a recolored Indianapolis Colts logo, and then it became just a generic I that you could argue is a recolor of one of the Iowa Hawkeye’s logos. It is still the last one 10 years later
Wafflebot17@reddit
Indianapolis colts
BunnyoftheDesert@reddit
One of the high schools in the town I grew up in are the Raiders. Same black and silver, but the logo looked a little different. My husband went to Catholic school they are the Irish…not “Fighting” Irish like Notre Dame…but similar logo.
leeloocal@reddit
Our high school mascot was The Artist, so no.
devnullopinions@reddit
No. The high school I went to was the merger of two high schools as enrollment declined. They had a contest for students to submit art and so the logo we had was literally drawn by a child.
hungaryboii@reddit
My high school in NJ were the wolf pack, logo was just a generic wolf. My high school in VA were the Trojan, and when we played a particular school in sports that seemed to be entirely populated by pieces of shit they would throw Trojan condoms at us and we were just like thanks!
wismke83@reddit
My high school did not (we are the Bees, don’t know many colleges or pro teams with that name) but my wife’s high school did (she’s now a coach at the school). They are the Panthers and use what looks like Penn State’s nittany lion logo (the primary one). I believe they had to change the logo. I recall my wife saying something about it after she talked to the athletic director about the district getting a letter. I don’t think the letter wasn’t as strong as a cease and desist order but was more of a first warning. The school board didn’t want to chance anything so they approved making changes. The changes they made were pretty of minor which was adjusting the eye, adding fangs to the mouth, opening it wider and adjusting the size of the head, but it still looks very much like the Penn State logo. They never got into any legal trouble so who knows if anyone who sent the letter actually followed up from the letter or not.
Mickeys_mom_8968@reddit
Is this question a scam to gather information about security questions?
olivegardengambler@reddit
My high school used the logo from the Carolina Panthers sans the blue/teal outline.
guywithshades85@reddit
We didn't use their logo, but our football uniforms were very very similar to the New York Jets at the time.
_pamelab@reddit
No. I've never heard of another team called the Lancers.
Havok1717@reddit
Mine uses the Philadelphia Eagles logo, but the colors are blue and yellow
biddily@reddit
We were the Jabberwocky's. Our mascot was a dragon.
You can take that as you want.
No. The answer is no. We themed ourselves off a nonsense Lewis Carroll poem.
Sirenista_D@reddit
None for us to steal as my HS mascot was a Brahma Bull
BaseballNo916@reddit
No, we were the eagles and had some generic drawing of an eagle.
I went to a middle school and high school in different districts that both had eagles as the mascot, it has to be the most generic school mascot.
Im not sure how schools that use a college mascot get around copyright.
RetroRocket@reddit
No college or pro team will go after a high school team for using a logo, it's not worth the awful PR it would cause
HughLouisDewey@reddit
Our mascot was the Braves. The logo was the high school's initials and a Native American's head that was similar to the old Redskin's logo, but different. More of a high and tight haircut with feathers behind the head instead of a ponytail.
For the football helmets though did use the spears like Florida State's helmet.
Boo_Pace@reddit
Yes, MSU Spartans. They've kinda made one of their own since I left, so it doesn't look the same, but they are still The Spartans.
boodyclap@reddit
My middle school used the NFL Vikings logo, just different colors
Strict-Potato9480@reddit
My high school had a team name that an expansion NBA team copied, but different logos!
Hitthereset@reddit
Neither, but we used a variant of the University of Wisconsin’s fight song.
notonrexmanningday@reddit
Yep, we were the Hawks and we stole the logo from the Iowa State Hawkeyes and changed the colors.
Raving_Lunatic69@reddit
My HS just had a big C on the helmet for decades, then switched to the spear they have on the Florida Seminoles helmet between my sophomore & junior year.
Welpmart@reddit
Yep, somewhere in North Carolina. They sent us a cease and desist somewhere in the latter half of my time there.
sneezhousing@reddit
That's copyright infringement. They could get sued if the college or pro team wanted to
tu-vens-tu-vens@reddit (OP)
Fortunately for a lot of high schools, the NFL doesn’t want to. Some colleges don’t want to either, and some are content to license their logo for high schools.
DikkDowg@reddit
We went from the Chicago Bears logo to the Memphis Grizzlies logo, but in red and black.
1radgirl@reddit
No, but they've been forced to (sort of?) change it since I was there, cause it was racist as hell.
Aggravating-Shark-69@reddit
Our team was called the Oilers and they use the Derick from the Houston Oilers.
Aroused_Sloth@reddit
My school had a flipped and color swapped Atlanta Falcons logo. Our rival school has the KC Chiefs arrowhead with different initials of course. All the surrounding schools have their own, one of them being student designed since its opening.
jameye11@reddit
We were the Raiders, we were definitely a pirate-themed logo but not the same as the pro. We had our own designs
We also had an original fight song written by a teacher back in the 70’s I believe. There are lyrics to it but not many know them these days, myself included
DraperPenPals@reddit
My high school literally used The Rock as a model for our logo
WhompTrucker@reddit
Probably. Wildcats. Our fight song was set to the tune of Ohio state
DonChino17@reddit
We were the Raiders (like Oakland) but our logo was very different. It was a knight for some reason.
FalseCredential@reddit
My school used the Buccaneers skull flag logo with different colors.
Electrical_Iron_1161@reddit
Mine was basically the Nebraska N but maybe a different font
Mudlark-000@reddit
Neither. My high school was established in 1967, and the students got to vote on a mascot. They chose a "Raider," as the music group Paul Revere and the Raiders were apparently quite popular at the time. So, we have a guy in one of the band's outfits on a horse. 99% of the students going there now probably think it is a Revolutionary War-era military guy on the horse, but the truth is much, much weirder...
UnbiasedSportsExpert@reddit
We were "warhawks" and had some gear with the Atlanta hawks logo for basketball but not as a primary logo. Not even the cool hawks logo though, like mutombo era hawks
eemanand33n@reddit
Yes, but different colors.
abbot_x@reddit
We were the Chiefs and our location started with K, so we used a lot of Kansas City Chiefs designs.
LoveSaidNo@reddit
Yep. School was in Houston. We were the Falcons and our logo was literally a copy paste of the Atlanta Falcons.
ImperfectTapestry@reddit
Yes! I thought this was just us!
jamiesugah@reddit
We were the Blue Devils. I'm not sure how different you can make a devil logo, but I just checked and Duke seems to use the side profile, and we didn't do that.
NetSage@reddit
My high school had basically the same mascot as the state college team. Go Badgers!
Rustymarble@reddit
Isn't this a password hint question?
ObligationSome905@reddit
Stole our football helmet design from Michigan first and then Georgia, everything else was a block G
bs2785@reddit
Yes but different logo. And not even a popular team where I'm at
jessek@reddit
Bro my high school mascot was a Lambkin. No one else has that stupid of one. We were on a David Letterman Top 10 list of lamest school mascots.
CupBeEmpty@reddit
Heh, that is Banana Slug level. Just don’t google RISD’s “mascot” at work.
CompetitiveMeal1206@reddit
Not a logo or mascot but we (the band) did use the Notre dame fight song when we scored touchdowns in football.
ARatOnATrain@reddit
We shared a mascot with a pro team but used a different logo.
Pac_Eddy@reddit
I bet that mascot was tired from all the travel
Ham_Ah0y@reddit
At risk of people figuring out where I'm from. . . No. We used a character from a local company that literally became a meme. I won't elaborate.
ZotDragon@reddit
Smallish high school. Uses the same name and mascot logo design as the Duke Blue Devils.
flatulating_ninja@reddit
My HS mascot was the Trojans but our logo doesn't look like any of the 20+ colleges that also use the Trojan as their mascot.
Add_8_Years@reddit
It would’ve been easy, as the mascot was the same as a pro baseball team, but no, they had a very lame looking mascot.
TEG24601@reddit
When I was in school, no. The logo was done many years ago by a student. We used that for decades. After I graduated, they took the craptacular logo of the Atlanta Falcons and changed the colors. It looks horrible and generic.
rokynrobs@reddit
We stole the Indianapolis Colts' mascot. Mostly used our own image, but there are times the horseshoe was used. We also stole Notre Dame's fight song tune, but had our own lyrics.
CupBeEmpty@reddit
I know some schools do that. We had a very specific and unique logo. The other schools around as far as I recall had unique logos.
peebed@reddit
The same colors and logo as SMU (my high school was 30 minutes away from it)
Any59oh@reddit
No, ours was drawn all the way back in the 1920s! With some clean up over the years, of course. There was a huge fuss when the school district decided to redo the logo entirely a few years ago. It looks more like what a pro team would have now, but it's still entirely our own
Orbital2@reddit
My high school used the Wisconsin W while I was there, the Washington W now.
cornfarm96@reddit
My HS used the Minnesota Vikings logo but our colors were black and gold
blipsman@reddit
Yeah, our football helmets were same Giants word mark as NY Giants football team
Sorry-Government920@reddit
My high school mascot doesn't really exist a Purgolder for the purple and gold school colors
machagogo@reddit
No. We had our own.
ejpierle@reddit
My HS in Indiana used Packers logo and colors
drgn2009@reddit
Nope. My highschool has the same mascot as a an NFL team, but 100% used our own logo.
Traditional_Entry183@reddit
Mine did not. The commissioned a local artist for one when the school was built in the 70s. But just about every rival school used one from a pro or college team.
SteakNEggs69@reddit
Ours was ripped from University of Oregon. Everyone in our division used college/NFL logos. 2A-3A schools. Always thought it was interesting and wondered why we did that.
SteakNEggs69@reddit
To add to this, our mascot was an animal, but our football logo was the letter O.
Blahblah3180@reddit
No. Someone in our district designed it when our high school opened.
Tommy_Wisseau_burner@reddit
There’s only so many ways you can do an “M”… for mermaid man tho
Live_Ad8778@reddit
Mine? No. Our sister school much like all the others that used a horse cheated off tht Broncos
UseMuted5000@reddit
Technically yes but it was more of a “it just kinda happened” thing but it was the chargers
Kingberry30@reddit
Nope.
TheDuckFarm@reddit
No, we had our own.