Purdue University Logo

Purdue University LogoPurdue University Logo PNG

Purdue University has several basic identity elements: the wordmark, seal, institutional colors, and typefaces.

Meaning and history

Purdue University Logo

Before 2018, Purdue had a tradition to allow its academic and administrative units to modify the main wordmark replacing the text “University” with the name of the unit. However, eventually the school’s design team came to the conclusion that this had a detrimental effect on the visual integrity of the logo, so these versions are now not allowed to be used officially.

What is Purdue University?
Purdue University is the name of an American educational institution, established in Indiana in 1869. Today the public research university, based in West Lafayette, has almost 50 thousand students and more than 3 thousand academic staff. Purdue University is famous for its engineering program.

Symbol

Symbol Purdue University

The main Purdue emblem features the word “Purdue” in black above the word “University” in gold. The two parts of the logo are separated by a gold horizontal line. Both of them are given in capitals, in a highly legible serif type.

Seal

Seal logo

The seal was officially introduced during the school’s 100th anniversary in 1969. Although the design itself was new, it incorporated elements of the old emblems that were used throughout the university’s history without acquiring the status of the official seal.

The Purdue University logo comprises a griffin, which was borrowed from medieval heraldry as the symbol of strength, and a shield consisting of three parts. Each of the parts has a meaning of its own; they symbolize education, research, and service.

Athletic emblem

emblem Purdue University

Old versions of the Purdue Boilermakers logo are all about trains. The 1983 version, for instance, features a black train overlapping a gold rhombus. The following logo, introduced in 1996, sports a modified train without the rhombus.

In 2003, the university got rid of the intricate emblems and stuck to the minimalistic “P” design. That’s exactly what is currently depicted on their helmets. There’ve also been a series of mascot emblems and wordmarks.

Purdue Boilermakers basketball

Purdue Boilermakers basketball logo

The men’s basketball team of Purdue University has competed in the NCAA Tournament 31 times (as of 2019). They reached the Final Four in 1969 and 1980. They became the Pre-tournament Premo-Porretta Champions in 1932. In addition to it, they have played in the National Invitation Tournament on eight occasions. Their only appearance in the College Basketball Invitational took place in 2013.

The women’s team has been equally successful. They became the NCAA Tournament Champions in 1999. The total number of the NCAA Tournament appearances has reached 26. The current head coach is Sharon Versyp.

Purdue Boilermakers football

Purdue Boilermakers football logo

The football program of Purdue University is pretty old – its history officially started in 1887. The current head coach is Jeff Brohm. The home games take place at Ross–Ade Stadium. The team plays in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision of college football.

The Boilermakers were retroactively selected national champion by Parke Davis, an NCAA-designated major selector, in 1931. They have played in 19 bowl games.

Font

While the university has a variety of recommended fonts, in fact, the official logo guidelines don’t mention the type their wordmark uses. Because of this, it makes sense to treat the logo as a custom artwork rather than try to reproduce it with the help of any of the existing fonts.

Color

Color Purdue University Logo

The primary palette of the Purdue University logo includes only two colors – old gold (Hex Code: #C28E0E) and black. The two institutional colors can be complemented by several additional ones. The primary colors were chosen because they “represent the traditional hammer-and-anvil strength of Boilermakers and other talented blacksmiths,” according to the official explanation provided by the University.

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