subject: School Mascots And What They Mean [print this page] Mascots are commonly used to promote school spirit. These symbols and images give students an image to relate to when they think of their school and their teams. Mascots are more than the animal or person painted on the side of the school house building.
For the longest time these symbols have been used to represent opposing sides, whether it be governmentally or just for competitions sake, mascots have been used. Some of the most common mascots like the elephant to represent republicans, or the donkey to represent the democrats mean more than just a division between two sides. One could arguably say that the elephant represents wisdom and the donkey represents moronic behaviors. This of course is a generalization but theses symbols give people spirit.
The same effect is seen in schools. For example when cheer leaders chant they do not say the name of the school necessarily, they chant the name of the school mascots. These are symbols of respect, and can even be seen as representations of how fierce the opposing school teams can be.
For example, if you were on the high school basket ball team, it would be easy to think that a team called the honey bees would be an easy win, however, if you take the same players and match them against a team called the lions there is a bit of a psychological impact on students.
Not only are these simple representations of the school something that determines the school colors, they give students something to relate to. On school teams the mascot becomes a part of who you are. These become something that students relate to and identify with. Similar to the army, navy, or marines, all of its members identify with who they have become by singing up with the program.
This figure can also mean more than just team spirit. Some times these are indicative of time periods and current events during the time the building was constructed. Pursuing this further, it is easy to understand why a prison building turned school house would be called, freedom. Sometimes schools are named after big figures in history, for example, there are several school names Martin Luther King Jr. High, or other schools that may be named after presidents and such. Many times there are schools that get their name and mascot from a person who helped to build, and fund the production of the building its self.
Although it is uncommon, some schools do not have a symbol like others may have. Many schools like musical conservatoires do not have one because their major focus is on musical theory and such, many private schools are also known to be without a symbol to represent themselves. The reason behind this is due to the fact that many private schools operate under the ideas of a specific religion, which becomes the institutions name; the names of saints or religious figures can be turned into a symbol of representation but it may just be a little too awkward of a situation.
Mascots are identifiable, they are symbols people relate with, they are what students and parents put their faith in during major sporting events. These symbols are what represent the schools and the time periods they were build in. Theses symbols represent the school in one simple word, phrase, or animal.
