Rice Owls is one of the American sports collegiate programs, which was established in the Rice University, located in Houston, Texas. The program consists of 14 men’s and women’s teams that compete in NCAA Division I in such sports disciplines as Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, and others.
While the current Rice Owls logo does not contain any reference to the owl theme, it was present on all the logos used from 1941 to 2009.
What is Rice Owls?
Rice Owls is the name of the athletic university program from the Texas University, which is called Rice University. The program is a member of the first division of NCAA and 14 strong men’s and women’s teams in such sports disciplines as Tennis, Volleyball, Basketball, and Golf.
The Rice Owls logo from 1941 looked very naive, containing only a drawing of an owl executed in white, with dark contours and placed in a dark burgundy background. The caricature depicted the bird with its wings spread up and to the sides, like trying to embrace the whole world. The owl looked very surprised and funny, creating a friendly image and making the badge recognizable.
The owl was redrawn in 1950, and this is when the logo of the Rice Owl club started looking more professional and strong. Although the mood of the badge remained friendly and fun. The owl was now wearing a long-sleeve jersey with a black letter “R” set on it in a square serif typeface, in bold black lines with a thin white outline. The bird was marching to the right, smiling. This logo was used by the club for almost a decade
The modern era for the Rice Owl visual identity started in 1997, with the switch of the color palette and style of the club’s logo. Now it was a sleek and confident badge in blue, gray, and white with small yellow elements. The top part of the badge contained an image of the owl flying forward with its wings widely spread. Under the bird, there was a stylized wordmark banner, with the lettering repeating the crest shape. “Rice” in sleek capitals with elongated lines of the letters was set in white above the “Owls” on a blue and white ribbon, arched on the bottom of the badge.
The name the Rice Owls is used by the athletic teams of Rice University in Houston, Texas. The logo the program adopted in 1941 featured a large white owl sitting on a twig. The bird had its wings open wide.
In 1950, it was replaced by an anthropomorphized owl with the large “R” on the chest. In 1997, the school adopted a logo with a more abstract owl. Eventually, in 2010, the teams decided to get rid of the bird. Now, their logo is a capital “R” in an elaborate Old English font.