Sporting colours explained

Sporting colours or just colours[1] (sometimes with a modifier, e.g. club colours or school colours) are awarded to members of a university or school who have excelled in a sport. Many schools do not limit their use to sport but may also give colours for academic excellence or non-sporting extra-curricular activities,[2] [3] [4] Colours are traditionally indicated by the wearing of a special tie or blazer.

Many university colours are known by the name of the colour used, which is usually the colour worn by the university's sports teams, e.g. Blue at Oxford and Cambridge, Palatinate at Durham, Pink at Trinity College Dublin or Red at Bristol. These are similar to the varsity letters awarded by American universities.

The level of representation required for the award of a colour varies between the different schemes. A full Palatinate at Durham, a Royal Blue at Liverpool or Full Colours at Cardiff require a student to have represented their country,[5] [6] [7] while at Oxford the requirement for a full Blue is to have represented the university in a varsity match against Cambridge in an eligible sport.[8] In many colour award schemes, it is possible to receive a half colour. These are normally given for lower levels of achievement than a full colour.

History

University colours were first introduced in the second University Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge in 1836.[9] Durham adopted palatinate purple for its degree hoods at about the same time. At Cambridge, teams would seek permission of the boat club to use their blue colour; by the 1860s the established sports with full blue status were rowing, cricket and athletics. In 1884, the rugby and football clubs awarded themselves blues following their varsity matches (against Oxford), leading to a debate at the Cambridge Union that was decisively lost by the boat club. The hockey club also gained full blue status (in 1894) before the system was formalised by the establishment of the blues committee in 1912.[10] The award of Palatinates for sports at Durham dates to at least 1883, when the cricket "Eleven" were permitted to wear the "university coat" (i.e. blazer) of palatinate purple rather than the claret coat of the club,[11] and the award of both Palatinates and half Palatinates was well established by the end of the century.[12] Manchester adopted maroon in 1905.[13] Trinity College Dublin adopted Pink in 1950.[14]

University colours

Different universities award different colours, often based on the colour worn by their athletes. Sometimes these are known by the colour used, but they may also simply be known as "colours". These include:

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: colour Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. dictionary.cambridge.org. en. 2017-07-07.
  2. Web site: School Colours. Woking High School. 11 June 2019.
  3. Web site: Colours Awards. Stirling High School. 11 June 2019.
  4. Web site: School Colours. Marr College. 11 June 2019.
  5. News: Palatinate Ball signs off a record-breaking year for Team Durham. 23 June 2014. Dominic Thurlow-Wood. Palatinate.
  6. Web site: The University of Liverpool Athletic Union: Constitution & Guiding processes. 17–18. University of Liverpool. 11 June 2019.
  7. Web site: Athletic Union Awards Criteria. Cardiff University Students' Union . 11 June 2019.
  8. Web site: Varsity and Blues Awards. https://web.archive.org/web/20180425232520/https://www.sport.ox.ac.uk/sports-clubs/varsity/. 25 April 2018. University of Oxford. 11 June 2019.
  9. Web site: Oxbridge Blue. How to win the varsity match.. The Field . 7 April 2015. 11 June 2019.
  10. Web site: Blues and the Blues Committee: Some historical notes . Cambridge University Blues Committee . Christopher Thorne . 10 July 1996 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110716024827/http://www.sport.cam.ac.uk/documents/en/his/history.pdf . 16 July 2011 . dmy .
  11. Cricket. Durham University Journal. Durham University. 5. 9. 108. 26 May 1883.
  12. The Palatinate. Durham University Journal. Durham University. 13. 4. 83. 14 May 1898.
  13. Web site: University of Manchester, Athletic Union Archive. Jisc. Archives Hub. 11 June 2019.
  14. Web site: Trinity College Dublin Sports Awards. TCD. Archives Hub. 21 April 2021.
  15. Web site: University celebrates top Athletes at 2015 Sports Ball. 13 February 2015. University of Aberdeen. 11 June 2019.
  16. Web site: Blues 2018. Bath Students' Union. 11 June 2019.
  17. Web site: Sports Awards. University of Birmingham. 11 June 2019.
  18. Web site: Students win prestigious sporting awards. 7 June 2018 . University of Bristol. 11 June 2019.
  19. Web site: Jargon Buster. Trinity College Dublin. 11 June 2019.
  20. Web site: Blues and Colours Awards Ceremony. 28 March 2024. University of Dundee. 14 May 2024.
  21. News: The quirks of Oxford and Cambridge. Nick Collins. The Telegraph. 12 February 2011.
  22. Web site: Colours. 11 June 2019.
  23. Web site: Constitution. Glasgow University Sports Association. 11 June 2019.
  24. Web site: Dress code. Heriot-Watt University. 11 June 2019.
  25. Web site: Sports Colours Awards 2018. University of Leeds. 11 June 2019.
  26. Web site: AU Colours. Loughborough Students' Union. 11 June 2019.
  27. Web site: NTU Sport Awards 2024. 7 March 2024. 14 May 2024. Nottingham Trent University.
  28. Web site: Sports Awards . RGU:Union. 11 June 2019.
  29. Web site: Blues Awards. St Mary's Students' Union. 4 April 2022.
  30. Web site: Sports Awards. University of Sheffield. 11 June 2019.

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