{"id":41928,"date":"2026-05-07T11:12:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T15:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=41928"},"modified":"2026-05-08T10:46:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T14:46:13","slug":"magazine-paladin-pride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/magazine-paladin-pride\/","title":{"rendered":"Paladin Pride"},"content":{"rendered":"

FURMAN UNIVERSITY\u2019S\u00a0PALADIN MASCOT, dignified\u00a0color scheme and \u201cDiamond F\u201d\u00a0logo have been signs of pride and\u00a0uniqueness among the school\u2019s\u00a0alumni, administration, students, athletes,\u00a0coaches\u00a0and fan\u00a0base\u00a0for generations.\u00a0But the tales of how the iconic,\u00a0distinguished nickname came\u00a0to be is filled with a unique\u00a0past, a fuzzy gnome, an oddly\u00a0placed\u00a0wizard\u00a0and a sharp-witted\u00a0newspaper sports editor.\u00a0Still, the university’s athletics\u00a0traditions and identities are\u00a0felt today from the Furman\u00a0Bell Tower to Paladin Stadium\u00a0and Timmons Arena through a\u00a0unique mascot that\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0come\u00a0to\u00a0represent\u00a0the entire athletic\u00a0department until the 1960s.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cBuzzing\u201d Beginnings: 1889-Early 1900s<\/span><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

Furman\u00a0hasn\u2019t\u00a0always been known as the\u00a0Paladins. In fact, the school\u2019s first athletic\u00a0programs were recognized by different names\u00a0for 70 years. The Furman Football Squad first began\u00a0play\u00a0in\u00a01889. Two years later, a group of alumni held a\u00a0meeting outside of Greenville and decided\u00a0that the school\u2019s colors should be royal purple\u00a0and white.\u00a0At the turn of the century, the baseball\u00a0program was known as the Hornets, the first\u00a0nickname given to a Furman athletic squad by\u00a0at least 10 years.\u00a0Neither the name nor the mascot found its\u00a0way to other Furman sports, but the Hornets\u00a0played a university role in the early 1900s.\u00a0\u201cThere was a lot of imagery of hornets\u00a0buzzing around together in solidarity,\u00a0working together as a unit [during that era],\u201d\u00a0distinguished university public historian\u00a0Courtney Tollison \u201999 says. \u201cThe university\u00a0promoted that imagery in the early 20th\u00a0century for purposes of solidarity.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Becoming a Paladin: 1920s-1960s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Meanwhile, Furman\u2019s football\u00a0program\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0have a true\u00a0nickname until 1920, when sports\u00a0editor and columnist Carter\u00a0\u201cScoop\u201d Latimer of The Greenville\u00a0News called the team the Purple Hurricane in his writing.\u00a0It took until 1927 before the first\u00a0mention of Furman\u2019s now iconic\u00a0brand made its first appearance\u00a0in print. Latimer pinned \u201cthe\u00a0Purple Paladins of the court\u201d in\u00a0his articles on the basketball team,\u00a0giving the athletic department its\u00a0third\u00a0different\u00a0mascot. \u201cThey had names and nicknames,\u00a0but they\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0necessarily have a\u00a0graphic identity or a fuzzy-suited\u00a0person jumping around on the\u00a0sidelines at that point,\u201d Furman\u00a0University archivist Jeffrey Makala\u00a0says. \u201cThat comes much later. But\u00a0the name stuck.\u201d\u00a0After the downtown Greenville\u00a0campus merged with the current\u00a0campus in 1961, the student\u00a0newspaper, known as \u201cThe\u00a0Hornet\u201d\u00a0after the baseball team, called for\u00a0unification and published a poll in\u00a0one of its early issues. The student\u00a0body was asked to pick among the\u00a0Hornets,\u00a0Hurricanes\u00a0and Paladins.\u00a0The basketball team was the pride\u00a0of campus at that time, riding the\u00a0success of the\u00a0previous\u00a0decade\u00a0under head coach Lyles Alley\u00a0and star player Frank Selvy.\u00a0That led to the student body\u00a0picking \u201cPaladins,\u201d and it became\u00a0the school\u2019s official nickname on\u00a0Sept. 15, 1961.\u00a0A Paladin is associated with Charlemagne\u2019s court for its\u00a0chivalry and heroism. With\u00a0Furman being founded as a Baptist\u00a0school, ties to a Christian knight\u00a0helped the school\u00a0come up with\u00a0what\u00a0the\u00a0Paladin\u00a0looks\u00a0like\u00a0today.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0an unusual mascot, but I think\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0why Furman people love it,\u201d\u00a0Tollison says. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0not something\u00a0that is extremely common and it\u00a0carries\u00a0a sort of a\u00a0sophistication\u00a0to it.\u201d\u00a0That same year,\u00a0a person began\u00a0dressing like a\u00a0medieval knight\u00a0while riding a\u00a0white horse at\u00a0football games,\u00a0a tradition that\u00a0is carried out\u00a0at each home\u00a0football game.\u00a0It was so\u00a0synonymous\u00a0with Furman\u00a0that in\u00a01963, the\u00a0horse was\u00a0kidnapped\u00a0by a group of Citadel cadets,\u00a0commemorating one of the most\u00a0storied chapters in the\u00a0Paladins-Bulldogs\u00a0rivalry.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Bringing the logo\u00a0to life: 1970s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

During the first decade or so of the Paladins’\u00a0nickname, the logo was a simple \u201cF\u201d on a shield. That shifted in 1973 when head football coach\u00a0Art Baker wanted a new image to wash away multiple losing seasons.\u00a0Alley, who had then become Furman\u2019s athletic\u00a0director, paid an art student and track athlete\u00a0$25 to design a new logo. Dennis Zeiger \u201974\u00a0came up with\u00a0what is now referred to as the\u00a0\u201cDiamond F,\u201d which has been the lasting symbol\u00a0of Furman and its athletic programs for more\u00a0than 50 years.\u00a0The mid-1970s also brought on the \u201cFU cheer\u201d\u00a0at the start of the third quarter at football\u00a0games, accidentally started by President Gordon\u00a0Blackwell and made a tradition by his successor\u00a0John Johns.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Roaming\u00a0the sidelines: 1980s-present<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

It\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0until the 1980s and 1990s that a\u00a0more\u00a0big-headed, caricature-like Paladin mascot\u00a0began walking the sidelines at sporting events.\u00a0And he\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0alone. Furman tried out a slew of characters to see\u00a0what\u00a0might\u00a0stick\u00a0as\u00a0a\u00a0tradition.\u00a0There was\u00a0Norman the Gnome, donning a robe and\u00a0pointy hat with the Diamond F logo on it, who\u00a0roamed the sidelines with the Paladin mascot for\u00a0a short time.\u00a0There was also a wizard making appearances\u00a0and jumping around during the 1980s, but that\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0last long. Over time, the Paladin mascot evolved into\u00a0the\u00a0puffy\u00a0costumed\u00a0Victor.\u00a0\u201cSir Paladin\u201d also\u00a0upgraded to a full suit of armor, and for many\u00a0years, the horse Fury was ridden by\u00a0Atlanta resident Dave Hanson.\u00a0\u201cI think people\u00a0love the white horse on\u00a0the field and the knight on horseback\u00a0galloping every\u00a0time\u00a0we score a\u00a0touchdown,\u201d Tollison says.\u00a0In 2016, the athletic department\u00a0unveiled a new \u201ccomplimentary\u201d Paladin\u00a0mascot logo, linking the purple past with\u00a0a distinctive brand that separates Furman\u00a0University from its peers.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ve\u00a0never heard any discussion of changing\u00a0[the Paladin mascot], Tollison says. \u201cI think\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0embraced.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The evolution of Furman University mascots is varied, sometime strange and always inspiring. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":389,"featured_media":41630,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,24,1963,3530,3526],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-athletics","category-furman-magazine","category-notes-from-the-field-spring-2026","category-spring-2026"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/389"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41928"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42333,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41928\/revisions\/42333"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}