a november 7, 1901 meeting decided that the college's official color would be blue. it originated as more of a royal blue, morphing fully into navy by the 1920s. the term "big blue" came about in the 1960s simply to refer to the uniform color, as opposed to any particular mascot. the image of a bull first appeared on a football game program in 1975, and the following year it was adopted as usu's mascot.