While the current Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders mascot represents the university’s students’ character and their academic success, there is a dark history behind a succession of the Blue Raiders’ mascots.
What Is the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders Mascot?
The official Blue Raiders mascot is “Lightning,” a costumed white-winged horse in the style of the mythical Pegasus, dressed in the program’s distinctive blue colors with a whisp of white that mirrors the Middle Tennessee sports teams’ uniforms.
In 1998, Middle Tennessee adopted “Lightning” as the Blue Raiders mascot, as part of a two-year campaign to find a new look that would represent the university when the football program switched to FBS football. The arrival of Lightning was met with great fanfare, including local and national advertisements with the catchy slogan “Lightning Strikes.”
The winged horse has a rich history in mythology. According to the university’s website, “In Greek mythology, the winged horse was known for its superior cunning and speed. It was the thundering horse of the gods and was entrusted to carry powerful lightning bolts. Only a noble being with a pure heart could harness its power.”
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Additionally, the university states that “character, talent, and strength” are required to mount and ride the fabled winged horse. These traits are often associated with the students at Middle Tennessee University, with character, talent, and strength being the epitome of what it takes to be successful on the football field.
In addition to the Greek mythological references, Middle Tennessee takes pride in being a program that has “earned its wings” with particular success in academia, such as aerospace, political science, music, and somewhat fittingly, horse science.
By having “Lightning” as the Blue Raiders mascot, the university can symbolize the mythology, achievements, and “soaring school spirit” that are integral to Middle Tennessee football games.
What Was the Old Blue Raiders Mascot?
Ideas of mythology, symbolism, and pride create an almost perfect and polished image of the Blue Raiders mascot. However, prior to the introduction of Lightning, the university had a succession of mascots with links to a darker period in the country’s history.
Having accepted Blue Raiders as the program nickname in 1933 — more on that later — Middle Tennessee went without an official mascot for almost 20 years. That all changed in the early 1950s, with the university using the image of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest around the campus.
Ultimately, Forrest became the first Blue Raiders mascot, with students copying his uniform and riding on horseback at multiple events including football games. There was considerable sympathy towards the Confederacy within the program, with the suggestion that “Forrest’s spirit” was akin to the spirit of Middle Tennessee.
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As attitudes changed locally and nationally, so did the Blue Raiders mascot. The depiction of Forrest was replaced with a soldier named Raider, and then with a St. Bernard dog. However, the program continued to maintain links with the Confederacy by naming the mascot Beauregard after another general (which incidentally was one of the former names of the now-defunct UNLV Rebels mascot).
In an attempt to distance themselves from controversy, Beauregard was renamed Lord Byron after the English poet and was eventually changed to Old Blue. After a period of time when a horse and general once again served as the Blue Raiders mascot, Old Blue returned in 1980 to completely eradicate any links to the Confederacy.
Ultimately, the creation and introduction of “Lightning” in 1998 replaced Old Blue as the Blue Raiders mascot.
Why Is Middle Tennessee the Blue Raiders?
Sadly, the story of why Middle Tennessee is the Blue Raiders doesn’t contain as much mythology or controversy. For the first 20 years of the university’s existence, Middle Tennessee did not have an official name for its sports teams. As a “normal” or “teaching” school, unofficial nicknames included “Normalites,” “the Teachers,” and “the Pedagogues.”
In the early 1930s, it was decided that the program needed an official nickname, and The Daily News Journal held a competition to find the new name. Blue Raiders was chosen after an entry inspired by the Colgate University Red Raiders, flipping the color for the distinctive blue of the Middle Tennessee program.
