FROM CYCLONE.COM
The saga of Iowa State University’s colors began in the 1890s. Originally, silver, yellow and black were chosen to be the school’s colors and the student newspaper explained those choices (tongue in cheek) like this:
· Silver: denoting the mechanical department on which is engraved in violet colors the letters, “IAC (Iowa Agricultural College)â€
· Yellow: signifying the golden harvest, which is claimed by the generals
· Black: symbolizing death, assigned to the Vet Department who kill but never cure
On Oct. 3, 1899, news reports stated that the colors “are pretty, but absolutely impossible to use in any way that would uniform our athletes. The colors adopted for a college athletic team determine what shall be the colors of the college.†One week later a special council committee investigating suitable colors for the team sweaters favored: “a cardinal sweater with a gold letter. This is a commendable improvement and makes a distinctive and striking set of colors. From the prominence of cardinal and gold at the Nebraska game, it is evident that common consent will very soon adopt these as the college colors.†Continuing on to today, the school colors are cardinal (Pantone 200) and gold (Pantone 130).