The athletic teams representing Ball State University belong to the NCAA Division I Mid-American Conference. Their mascot is Charlie Cardinal, who you can see on the current Ball State Cardinals logo (2015) as well as on the old one introduced in 1990.
Meaning and history
1990 – 2014
The Ball State Cardinals logo from 1990 featured a sharp and modern image of a Cardinal bird head in a red, black and white color palette, with some additional diagonal black lines above, as a visualization of speed and power. The emblem had no lettering added, and this was not needed at all, as the bird looked strong on its own, evoking a sense of commitment, willingness to win, and fighting spirit. The traditional color palette and bright contrast only elevated the mood of the badge.
2015 – Present
In fact, the old and the current emblems look pretty similar. Both feature a downward-facing angled abstract cardinal. Both are based on a color scheme including red, white, and black.
Yet, there is a couple of notable differences. On the previous logo, there were three black strokes above the bird’s head. Although the strokes were diagonal and added motion, they also made the bird itself smaller. The 2015 Ball State Cardinals logo got rid of them making the main image larger.
Ball State Cardinals football
The team plays in Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Mid-American Conference. Their home arena is Scheumann Stadium. The first football season was 1924.
Ball State Cardinals basketball
The first basketball season was 1920. Today, the team plays in the Mid-American Conference and uses Worthen Arena for its home games. The men’s team competed in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament in 2000. In 2009, the women’s team won their first MAC tournament.
Ball State Cardinals Colors
CARDINAL RED
PANTONE: PMS 200 C
HEX COLOR: #BA0C2F;
RGB: (186, 12, 47)
CMYK: (3, 100, 70, 12)
WHITE
PANTONE: P 1-1 C
HEX COLOR: #FFFFFF;
RGB: (255, 255, 255)
CMYK: (0, 0, 0, 0)
BLACK
PANTONE: BLACK 6 C
HEX COLOR: #000000;
RGB: (0, 0, 0)
CMYK: (0, 0, 0, 100)