Once upon a time, Green Bay was red

Cheer loud and long, to be sure, and don’t forget to wear your green on game day.

Wearing school colors is a tradition dating back more than a century on American college campuses, and about forty years at UW-Green Bay, but believe it or not, the primary color at the school by the bay wasn’t always green.

In the early years, red and white were the predominant colors, denoting UW-Green Bay’s status as an offshoot of the flagship University of Wisconsin campus in Madison. Green was only a minor accent color signifying both the community place name and aspects of the University’s environmental focus. With time, campus growth and increased autonomy — the 1970s merger of UW campuses and the former Wisconsin State University campuses diluted any special ties to Madison — UW-Green Bay began to transition from its “Bay Badgers” and cardinal-and-white origins.

During the 1980s, UW-Green Bay elevated the use of green to preferred status but retained red as an accent color. The shift to green became more pronounced in the 1990s. A new University publications stylebook released in October 2008 will further clarify the color question.Nowadays, the use of forest green at UW-Green Bay holds additional weight given renewed campus attention to environmental issues. Go Green! And go (UW-) Green Bay!