| Blaze | |
| University: | University of Alabama at Birmingham |
| Conference: | American Athletic Conference |
| Conference Short: | The American |
| Description: | Green dragon |
| First Seen: | January 6, 1996 |
Blaze (officially Blaze the Dragon) is the mascot of the University of Alabama at Birmingham's athletics teams.[1] The mascot is based on a fire-breathing European dragon. [2]
The first mascot was introduced in 1978 as an unnamed furry pink dragon during a men's basketball game but disappeared the following season due to unpopularity. During 1979 to 1992, UAB introduced another mascot named Beauregard T. Rooster, a chicken originally worn by an UAB employee Frank Sutherland as a Halloween costume but halted due to concern of trademark infringement lawsuit by San Diego's Chicken's. In 1993, the school voted a new mascot Blazer the Warrior, a Viking warrior but retired the next season due to children being scared of the mascot. [3] [4]
On January 6, 1996, "Blaze", a friendly green dragon was introduced at a basketball game. "Blaze" is considered a member of the spirit squads and appears at all football and basketball games. Blaze's head has appeared on the sides of UAB's football helmets since 1996, when the team moved up to Division I-A.