College teams have great pride in their mascot, and the University of Kansas is no different.
What is different is that the Jayhawk doesn’t actually exist, making it one of college football’s very few mythical mascots.
What is a Jayhawk, where did the mascot come from, and why is it so important to Kansas?
What is the Kansas Jayhawks Mascot?
Despite being the 34th state in the Union, Kansas has a long and storied history, and the Kansas Jayhawk mascot tells that story.
The term “Jayhawk” dates back to the 1840s, when westward settlers described themselves as a combination of two birds: the blue jay and the sparrow hawk.
Historians believe this was a reference to the blue jay’s angry, aggressive, and quarrelsome nature, while the sparrow hawk is typically more quiet and reserved but no less dangerous.
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Settlers described themselves as Jayhawks to allude to the fact that they could be quiet and stealthy but also angry and vindictive.
While extremely far west at the time, the Kansas territory was a breeding ground for disagreement, a land conflicted between slavery and freedom.
Free-staters and slaveowners were at odds throughout the 1850s, even after the state was admitted to the Union and declared free in 1861.
Though both parties claimed the term Jayhawk, the term stuck with the free-staters, many of whom had congregated in Lawrence, the future site of the University of Kansas.
By the time the Civil War ended in 1865, the terms “Jayhawk” and “Free-stater” were used interchangeably to describe the fiery citizens of Kansas.
When the University of Kansas’ cheer (the Rock Chalk Chant) was written in 1886, the term Jayhawk was used frequently.
By the time the University of Kansas football team began playing games in 1890, fans naturally referred to it as the Jayhawkers. The name would soon become official, it just made sense.
Why is Kansas the Jayhawks?
Unfortunately, no one quite knew how to draw a fictional bird, and the mascot itself didn’t make an appearance until 22 years later.
In 1912, a student newspaper drew a bird with extremely long legs and shoes. While that was the default mascot used, people didn’t love its cartoonish look.
In 1920, another cartoonist went the opposite direction, using a realistic bird perched on a “KU,” but that didn’t quite capture the essence of the Jayhawk, whatever the essence of a Jayhawk was.
It wasn’t until 1941 (after several other variations) that the first rendering recognizable as a modern Jayhawk was published by Gene “Yogi” Williams.
When Harold D. Sandy turned the Jayhawk’s scowl into a smile in 1946, it was quickly apparent that the school at last had a mascot worthy of being immortalized. Kansas copyrighted the Jayhawk design in 1947, and it has undergone just one minor change since — a change in “KU” font in 2005.
Today, the Jayhawk is so recognizable and so entrenched in University of Kansas lore that few realize the bird is fictitious.
Because of this, the University of Kansas Jayhawk is one of the most unique mascots in college football, capturing the essence of what makes the sport great.
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