Mascot
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A tired lion mascot taking a break |
A
mascot, originally a term for any person, animal, or thing supposed to bring
luck, is now something—typically an
animal or
human character—used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a
school,
professional sports team (the name often corresponds with the mascot), society or
corporation. American
university and school sports teams are often identified primarily by their mascot. Sports team merchandise often bears the team logo as well as mascot. The team will employ an individual to accompany them to home and away games who dresses up as the creature.
Often the choice reflects some desired quality (e.g. fighting spirit, competition symbolized by warriors or predators) and/or an already well-known local, regional or other trait (e.g. Dallas
Cowboys refers to the Texan ranching tradition, and has a virile image).
Tribal symbols and
totems can be considered as mascots. Mascots are also popular with the
military, both on a large scale such as the
United States Marine Corps bulldog, or on the scale of individual units. Nations can also have mascots, such as the
eagle, the symbol of
Imperial Rome, the
United States, and
Germany, or the
bulldog and the
lion like the symbol of
Britain; even a continent can have a mascot, such as the
condor symbolizing
South America.
A mascot is not always an animal or person; for example,
Stanford University's mascot is a color (
cardinal), and its
band's mascot is a tree.
In the
United States, there has been controversy surrounding some mascot choices, especially those of human characters. Mascots based on
Native American tribes have proven particularly contentious, as many argue that they constitute offensive exploitations of an oppressed race. However, such debates are not unique to Native American mascots:
Alfred University, a school of about 2,000 students in Western
New York State has the "Saxon" as its mascot. Its representation is a charging
knight in
armor. Meant to symbolize
strength and
courage, others protest that the Saxon represents
chauvinism and
rape.
It has been traced back to a dialectic use, in
Provence and
Gascony, where it meant something which brought luck to a household. The suggestion that it is from
masqu (masked or concealed), the provincial French for a child born with a
caul, in allusion to the lucky destiny of such children, is improbable.
The word was first popularized in
1880, when French composer
Edmond Audran wrote a popular comic
operetta called
"La Mascotte", but it had been common in France long before as French
slang among gamblers, derived from the
Occitan word
masco, meaning
witch (perhaps from Portuguese
mascotto, witchcraft), and also
mascoto, meaning
spell.
The operetta was so popular that it was translated into English as "The Mascot", creating an English word for an animal, person, or an object which brings good
luck. In that sense it entered many languages, often in the French form mascotte.
*
Spokesman*
List of mascots*
Military mascots*
Olympic mascot*
FIFA World Cup mascot*
List of U.S. college mascots*
List of video game mascots*
American Indian Sports Team Mascots*
Mascot info Site*
List of over 500 sports mascots*
A page of bulldog mascot logos*
Custom Mascot Design Ideas
