Before anyone jumps on me about the fact that the “New School” colors are actually the original colors of UM, I know this, but in modern history, “Old School” colors are considered to be the Copper and Gold and the “New School” colors are considered to be the Maroon and Silver. Maroon and Silver were originally used by UM from 1893-1967. UM switched to Copper and Gold (“Old School”) in 1968 and used them through 1996 and switched back to Maroon and Silver (“New School”) in 1997.
UM’s official colors are actually copper, silver and gold, and were chosen as such in recognition of the state of Montana’s mining history. The confusion stems from the use of Maroon or Texas Orange at various times in history due to the lack of copper dye.
Now that we have that out of the way, let’s discuss the thoughts/opinions of fans around Griz Nation. I posed this question on Facebook and Twitter yesterday with great feedback.
On Facebook, the responses were spread fairly evenly. It seems there is a lot of love for both color combinations.
- Old School: 33
- New School: 28
- Occasional throwback: 9
- Combo of both: 4
- Anything but black: 1
On Twitter, the responses were minimal (as expected) but also varied.
@egrizfans Old school. how is this even a question? #bringemback
— Tim Wenz (@TimWenz) January 23, 2013
@egrizfans I won a national championship in old and was runner up in the new. Both awesome. Keep new and go throw back at times. Go Griz
— David Sirmon (@davidsirmon) January 24, 2013
With of course a reference to the wonderful movie “Old School”
@egrizfans go to Home Depot buy some wallpaper get some flooring maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know if we'll have time #OldSchool
— JayRoySOAR406 (@JayRoySor) January 23, 2013
So, after the debate, it seems Griz Nation is mixed in their opinion of the best color combination for Grizzly Athletics.
What do you think? Please comment below.
I think we should go back to the old Copper and Gold look. No one else in the country has it. It made the Griz unique. I am fine with Maroon and Silver, but there are many schools with that color scheme.
@TimWenz I do like the Copper and Gold but how excited do we get when we have a “throwback” game and bring out the old colors. Does that make it more exciting/special when it only happens occasionally?
@TimWenz The old color scheme is definitely an unique color combination, but actually there’s not another college football program in America that has maroon and silver as their color scheme. So it’s unique as well, in that sense. (Several programs have similar colors, but none are truly maroon and silver. Maroon and grey, dark red and silver–yep. No other ‘Maroon/Silver’ teams out there, though.)
@CrunchGriz While they may not technically be “maroon and silver” there are other schools in the country with that color scheme. Its like saying USC/Iowa State/Minnesota don’t have the same colors. No other school in the country has Copper and Gold. Sure the throwback aspect of it is nice at times, but why not just go permanent?
Our Griz have won NCs in both colors. Hell, I’m all for something new and a 3rd title. Copper and Maroon?
I like the old colors. They just bring back really fond memories, but the maroon and silver looks pretty sharp. I think that having a more modern look helps recruitment.
Someone put this together on that Nike Pro Combat site. The logo is awful of course, but I think it would be pretty cool if they put the Texas orange with actual gold instead of that mustard yellow color.
http://www.myuploadedimages.com/images/44931241712317148182.png
I just wish they would get rid of the black. Our colors are copper, gold and silver because they represent our state’s history. Black has no place in that.
Old school
Either or…….Always love seeing the Mighty Griz rumble on the field. Both uniforms do the team proud.
Both……One for away games and one for games in Deer Lodge.
i like them both also, they should switch um up for sure
I’m sure there is a tug to the color de’ jour while attending the “U.” I hail from the Swarthout era… Burnt orange versus copper at that phase bore a strong, er identical match to Texas, where he came to the U from.
In a vote, I would have to go with Copper.
Jim
OLD SCHOOL. That is the true school colors, and @TimWenz is dead on. Every team and their mother has maroon or at least some version of it. Copper, Silver & Gold are ours, and we should be proud of it.
Is there anywhere to purchase the old colors? The bookstore will not sell the old old colors at the request of the school president, I was told that on more the one occasion when stopping into the bookstore.
How about a fan t shirt that reads ” My Grizzly blood runs Copper, Silver and Gold”