SportsLogos.Net News 576 Posted March 10, 2020 Illinois Students Vote In Favor Of Belted Kingfisher Mascot March 10, 2020 - 16:39 PMStudents at the University of Illinois last week voted in favor of adopting the Belted Kingfisher, an orange and blue bird native to the state, as the school’s mascot. The idea originated with senior physics and astronomy student Spencer Hulsey, […] Read More... 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pianoknight 2,991 Posted March 10, 2020 Love the idea. Please tell me they'll have a better logo, though. Execution is horrendous: 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mingjai 1,027 Posted March 10, 2020 If their usage is similar to Utah's red-tailed hawk mascot, I doubt we'll see much in terms of kingfisher imagery in the athletic branding. Utah has some red-tailed hawk mascot logos (http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/list_by_team/892/Utah_Utes/), but you rarely see them used. Like with Utah's block U, I assume it will continue to be a lot of block I-related branding. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dynasty 2,394 Posted March 10, 2020 Yeah, I hope that logo is just a little placeholder or something. It looks aged already. I don't know how prominent the bird is going to be, but at least Illinois has a mascot they can use now. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
officeglenn 2,373 Posted March 10, 2020 Worth noting, for those who may not have clicked through to read the story, that this was a non-binding referendum. Also [emphasis mine]: Quote The results of this year’s vote will be shared with university administrators, including chancellor Robert Jones, who would decide if they want to adopt the Belted Kingfisher as the school’s new mascot. It’s worth noting a new mascot would not replace the Fighting Illini nickname but would act as a replacement to the Chief Illiniwek mascot banned by the NCAA in 2005. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SFGiants58 13,767 Posted March 10, 2020 11 minutes ago, officeglenn said: Also [emphasis mine]: That’s a shame. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
the admiral 28,272 Posted March 10, 2020 No, the name is fine, functionally speaking it's just a modified form of "Illinoisans." Kinda pseudo-Latin. Just keep people from dressing as the Chief and it's fine. 11 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CS85 10,501 Posted March 10, 2020 So are they now the ... Fightin' Kingfishers? Logo needs work. Like, a lotta work. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IceCap 21,982 Posted March 10, 2020 I got excited for a moment, thinking they were going to be the Fisher Kings. 6 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DC in Da House w/o a Doubt 3,644 Posted March 10, 2020 And for anyone who was originally slightly confused as I was, this wouldn't replace the name Illini as the team name. It would just be a student in a bird costume Quote It’s worth noting a new mascot would not replace the Fighting Illini nickname but would act as a replacement to the Chief Illiniwek mascot banned by the NCAA in 2005 EDIT: ah okay I see other people have cleared that up also. Carry on 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bonnaroo42 41 Posted March 10, 2020 As someone who currently attends, I was pretty shocked with the result. The vibe I was getting around campus was that this would be shot down resoundingly. Anyways, now that this is most likely happening, I guess I'll hold off final judgments until I see a legitimately well-designed version. I'd say that the current saving grace is that we can keep using feathers in designs, if I were coming up with the new logo set, that'd be something I play heavily on since a lot of the local fan shops as well as students have shirts with feathers paying homage to the headdress logo. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
8BW14 1,367 Posted March 10, 2020 As a fan, I’m a fan. A Kingfisher is a cool bird and it makes for a unique mascot. As long as those logos above are not official, and I’m guessing they’re not because the “I” is not even close to the real block I, I think it would make for some really nice logos and imagery. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
infrared41 9,117 Posted March 10, 2020 6 minutes ago, 8BW14 said: As a fan, I’m a fan. The classics never die. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DDR 3,030 Posted March 10, 2020 24 minutes ago, Bonnaroo42 said: As someone who currently attends, I was pretty shocked with the result. The vibe I was getting around campus was that this would be shot down resoundingly. Anyways, now that this is most likely happening, I guess I'll hold off final judgments until I see a legitimately well-designed version. I-L-L! Class of '05 here. Anyways, I was surprised that the whole "This Will Not Replace The Illini Name" wasn't more forward in communications until recently. I don't hate the idea of having a mascot in the mix. I'll be curious to see how/if any of our teams use it, should it be officially adopted. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mingjai 1,027 Posted March 10, 2020 46 minutes ago, Bonnaroo42 said: As someone who currently attends, I was pretty shocked with the result. The vibe I was getting around campus was that this would be shot down resoundingly. Anyways, now that this is most likely happening, I guess I'll hold off final judgments until I see a legitimately well-designed version. I'd say that the current saving grace is that we can keep using feathers in designs, if I were coming up with the new logo set, that'd be something I play heavily on since a lot of the local fan shops as well as students have shirts with feathers paying homage to the headdress logo. 20 minutes ago, DDR said: I-L-L! Class of '05 here. Anyways, I was surprised that the whole "This Will Not Replace The Illini Name" wasn't more forward in communications until recently. I don't hate the idea of having a mascot in the mix. I'll be curious to see how/if any of our teams use it, should it be officially adopted. As I was saying, I think the closest analogue will be how the Utah Utes use the red-tailed hawk mascot within its overall athletics identity. Based on that, I imagine Illinois's current branding won't change much, but they will get to have a mascot at sporting events again. Maybe you'll see a kingfisher mascot logo used every once in a while in connection with mascot appearances or one off uniforms. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
the admiral 28,272 Posted March 10, 2020 A bird called a "kingfisher" sounds weird for a school that's in an ocean of corn and soybeans, but it's fine enough. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rj0498 352 Posted March 10, 2020 Sounds like a cool idea. A unique animal mascot and they maintain the Illini name. My only gripe is the logo, it looks kind of awkward 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DC in Da House w/o a Doubt 3,644 Posted March 10, 2020 I guess I’m misremembering but I thought they got rid of the Fighting in Fighting Illini 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DC in Da House w/o a Doubt 3,644 Posted March 10, 2020 Also any Illinois thread is worthy of posting a pic of Dee Brown. 5 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bonnaroo42 41 Posted March 11, 2020 3 hours ago, DDR said: I-L-L! I-N-I baby! Huge weekend coming up! Anyways I’ve been pretty happy with the current uniform set. I hope they continue wearing the white cursive script throwbacks. If anything with the kingfisher I wouldn’t mind an alternate like FSU or Oregon with a feather theme down the side or as minor trimmings, would sell like hot cakes. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites