What is Carolina Blue?
A conflict within the family resolved but like every great argument, is there really a consensus?
It starts with a bout of obsessive-compulsive behavior — where is my beloved Carolina seal lapel pin? I search and search and cannot find it so I do what I normally do: google it so I can buy another.
Well, it turns out there is a difference between the seal of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and its mark. Of course, I should have known this, but I discover a couple sites I didn’t expect to find. But first, some history about the color.
It turns out that Carolina’s colors, light blue and white, began as emblems of “factional division” between the members of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies, two debating societies began at UNC during the 1790’s and who later merged into what is today called Di-Phi. From their Petitioning Guide (http://diphi.web.unc.edu/files/2016/01/Petitioning-Guide-Final-Spring-2016.pdf retrieved March 25, 2017):
Origin of Colors
Carolina’s colors, light blue and white, began as emblems of factional division between the members of the Di and Phi Societies. The Di, it appears, decided to put blue ribbons on its diplomas, which are given to graduates in addition to the University’s diplomas. In addition to blue standing for honor, blue ribbons were the universal symbol for excellence in agricultural regions like North Carolina. The Di prided itself on excellence. The Phi chose white ribbons, indicative of truth and virtue, for its diplomas. When intercollegiate football began in the 1880s, the team members noticed the school colors worn by schools like Virginia and Wake Forest. They wanted similar identification as Carolina students. Quite naturally, they adopted the Societies’ blue and white signifying that students of both the Di and Phi were on the team and supported it to victory.
But there’s no mention of what shade of light blue evolved into being Carolina Blue. The discussion has been ongoing for some time, with the diversity of what is Carolina Blue producing conflict among the faithful over the years. In “Blue Genes,” a 2002 article in the Carolina Review (subscription required), Beth McNichol mentions a near revolt among UNC alumni in the 1960’s due to the gradual darkening of Carolina Blue.
In 2016, the Wall Street Journal shared some history in an article preceding the Final Four about Carolina Blue: Fifty Shades of Blue: Tar Heels Seek the Truest Hue, Wall Street Journal, March 31, 2016 (subscription required). In that article they The Wall Street Journal discussed the history of Carolina Blue in 2015 and reported that the change had been due to the impact of college sports being broadcast and the television cameras washing the color out to be closer to gray.
Over the years, there have been alternate versions of Carolina Blue:
- UNC Athletic Department used to use Pantone 297 (see this 2000 Football Media Guide) as Carolina Blue.
- UNC Hospitals apparently uses Pantone 543 (True Carolina Blue, Nancy Largent, Chapel Hill Recorder, February 20, 2014).
- Change in basketball uniforms in 2011–12 results in two different shades of Carolina Blue (Nike Is Changing The Color Of The University Of North Carolina’s Iconic ‘Carolina Blue’, Cork Gaines, Business Insider, October 31, 2011).
- Other versions of Carolina Blue have included 291 and 298 (What Is Carolina Blue? ramfanatic.com).
There was even a survey about which color really was Carolina Blue of alumni of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on the General Alumni Association website a few years ago, and the results of that poll included this quote that Nancy Largent got from a UNC junior in her Chapel Hill Recorder article:
I crossed the street and headed into Johnny T-Shirt, a shop that has been selling UNC merchandise since 1983. UNC junior, Arthur Iannacone was cashiering, and he pointed to a baby blue colored shirt when I asked him to show me the real Carolina Blue. ‘Anything darker looks too close to Duke.’
We’ve had a nice mix of options to call Carolina Blue:
In 2011, Alexander Julian, the clothing designer and architect of the stylish Carolina basketball uniforms since 1991, created graduation gowns for UNC because he was “determined that his son, Will, was not going to graduate in May 2011 wearing an aqua gown.”
Of course the history, until recently, include an internal conflict about what color met the standard, which would be even more important in light of trademark issues (see below). Having a “unique and distinctive color scheme” is required in order for the University to have adequate protection over their logo and brand. In other words, Without ONE Carolina Blue, there’s no Carolina Blue. And that seemed to be the issue for UNC.
UNC Creative — the self-proclaimed source of design services for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill took the position that the “formal signature” of the University: http://creative.unc.edu/resources/print-style-guide/formal-signature/ containing a definitive statement about what is Carolina Blue:
2017 NOTE: This page has been updated to http://identity.unc.edu/colors/ and now includes my new favorite demand:
However, back in 2014 when I originally wrote this, UNC’s Division of Finance and Administration had a different view on their website. They are, of course, the dictators over the use of the UNC logo, mark, the mascot and various sports-related promotional materials and products. At that time, they said that Carolina Blue was an entirely different color:
https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20130302023143/http://www.licensing.unc.edu/Stylesheet
So there was this conflict: Which of these is Carolina Blue?
Source: Pantone 278C Pantone 542C
Ultimately the Trademarks and Licensing page was updated in 2015 to reflect the consensus (and that UNC Creative was right): Pantone 542C is Carolina Blue and the only color to be used for branding: https://fa.unc.edu/files/2015/09/UNC-Logo-Sheet-April-2015.pdf
Of course they also included a whole bevy of associated colors to be used with Carolina Blue, and the especially helpful answer of what color to use for White:
In the Wall Street Journal article (thankfully not on their editorial page so it was technically still considered news), the article provided amble proof of Alexander Julian’s insanity (discussed below) and this beauty of a sentence:
The whole thing, said North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham, “was significantly more challenging than I ever anticipated.”
Who is Pantone to decide colors? Well, they have been the arbiters of color for a long time. Their Pantone Matching System (regrettably abbrieviated as PMS) has been, according to their website, “the world-renowned authority on color and provider of color systems and leading technology for the selection and accurate communication of color across a variety of industries. The PANTONE® name is known worldwide as the standard language for color communication from designer to manufacturer to retailer to customer.” Pantone has gone so far as to declare a “color of the year” for the past few years (see their last 12 on CNN’s Headline News here and the last 50 years as they Celebrate Color).
Their history is fascinating. As reported on designface.co.uk:
Pantone, as it is today, was founded in 1962, when the company—at the time a small business which manufactured colour cards for cosmetics companies—was bought by Lawrence Herbert, who had been an employee since 1956. He immediately changed its direction, developing the first colour matching system in 1963.
The company’s primary products include the Pantone Guides, which consist of a large number of small (approximately 6×2 inches or 15×5 cm) thin cardboard sheets, printed on one side with a series of related colour swatches and then bound into a small flipbook. For instance, a particular ‘page’ might contain a number of yellows varying in luminance from light to dark.
The idea behind the PMS is to allow designers to ‘colour match’ specific colours when a design enters production stage—regardless of the equipment used to produce the colour. This system has been widely adopted by Graphic Designers, Reproduction and Printing Houses for a number of years now. Pantone recommends that PMS Colour Guides be purchased annually as their inks become more yellow over time. Colour variance also occurs within editions based on the paper stock used (coated, matte or uncoated), while inter-edition colour variance occurs when there are changes to the specific paper stock used.
The Pantone Color Matching System expands upon existing color reproduction systems such as the CMYK process. The CMYK process is a standardized method of printing colour by using four inks—cyan, magenta, yellow and black. The majority of the world’s printed material is produced using the CMYK process. The Pantone system is based on a specific mix of pigments to create new colours—referred to as Spot Colours. The Pantone system also allows for many ‘special’ colours to be produced such as metallics and fluorescents. While most of the Pantone system colours are beyond the printed CMYK gamut, those that are possible to simulate through the CMYK process are labeled as such within the company’s guides.
Pantone colours are described by their allocated number (typically referred to as ‘PMS 130'). PMS colors are almost always used in branding and have even found their way into government legislation (to describe the colours of flags). In January 2003, the Scottish Parliament debated a petition (reference PE512) to define the blue in the Scottish Flag (saltire) as ‘Pantone 300'. Countries such as Canada and South Korea and organizations such as the FIA have also chosen specific Pantone colours to use when producing flags. It is open to speculation whether legislators realize that Pantone may choose to reformulate the colour.
Here’s another good article: “Quick History: Pantone”
Why does this matter? Well there’s been at least one case where a school’s colors became so intricately associated with the University they celebrate that the color itself becomes the intellectual property of the University.
Doug Lederman reported in 2008 about a case before the United States Court of Appeal for the Fifth Circuit stating:
‘color schemes along with other indicia’ that have come to be strongly associated with a university can be enough to trigger a finding of trademark violation when they create ‘a probability of confusion’ in the mind of consumers.
That case had been brought by LSU, Ohio State, USC and Oklahoma (note that I refuse to acknowledge the “The” preceding Ohio State and also that USC does not mean anything related to South Carolina) against Smack Apparel. Smack printed t-shirts that were sold for the 2004 Sugar Bowl between LSU and Oklahoma and also referenced national championships won by OSU and USC for the 2004 National Championship game also played in New Orleans. The shirts did not contain school names or logos, but used school colors and other statements to connect with the fans of the two bowl opponents.
After awarding nearly $50,000, the lower court also forbade Smack Apparel from creating any more shirts without the authority of the universities. In its review of the original decision, the Fifth Circuit acknowledged that each of the universities “have been using their color schemes along with other indicia to identify and distinguish themselves from others,” going on to state that “the marks at issue here have acquired the secondary meaning of identifying the universities in the minds of consumers as the source or sponsor of the products rather than identifying the products themselves.”
The court acknowledged that fans place value on both the sports team logos and their colors, and concluded that team colors are, “in the minds of the fans and other consumers” that the universities are the “source indicators of team-related apparel.” The court then stated that the universities’ colors (in combination with “other indicia” such as the scores of their teams’ games, their geographical locations, and the like) qualified for legal protection under trademark law and upheld the lower court’s judgment against Smack Apparel.
OK, so what?
So when you consider trademark protections for anything of value, there has to be some agreement about what is being protected. Foley & Gardner, a national intellectual property law firm wrote a very insightful piece on the role of color and trademark: “Colorful Rights: Trademark Protections for Color Schemes.” In the article, the authors state what is the fairly settled requirements to protect a color:
Protecting Rights in Color Marks
In addition to registering color marks, this case demonstrates a number of other steps that color mark users can take to attempt to create and preserve their rights:- Select a unique and distinctive color scheme and keep variations to a minimum.
- Actively promote the color scheme as an indication of source, sponsorship, or affiliation with your organization. For example, if the colors are silver and gold, sell shirts under a “Silver and Gold” label.
- Refer generally to the team or organization by its color scheme. For example, the Court highlighted that Louisiana State University is often referred to as the ‘Purple and Gold.’ This can be done outside of the sports world as well (e.g., UPS’ advertisements referring to itself as ‘Brown’).
- If the color scheme is unique and distinctive, ensure that unauthorized third-party use of the color schemes is minimal. It may be a delicate proposition to limit the use of a sports team’s colors by loyal local businesses, but efforts to do so may be necessary to safeguard claims of exclusive rights in the color scheme. Simple licenses may be the right balance in such cases.
- Exercise strict control over the quality of licensed merchandise using the colors.
- Require that licensed products display the name of the licensee and indicate the colors are used under license.
(Here’s another very good article on color and trademark: http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-marketing/color-and-trademarks)
The real tragedy — we actually had a color called Carolina Deep Blue and the above referenced Navy Blue.
WTF? They’re both a little too close to that other school for my comfort. Even this Dookie agreed we’re a little too flexible about what Carolina Blue ought to be.
Add-on for my friend Jeff Lindsey: Carolina Blue is definitely different than Man City’s colour, which is PANTONE 284C. Only a State graduate would think these are the same… :-)
