Some people, even some with a UT connection, believe they do not look good in burnt orange — that it is not “their color.” These people are deeply confused. Burnt orange is the best color there is and looks good on every living person. And it will continue to be the best color all the livelong day.
It should be worn at every opportunity, but especially on Fridays. The tradition of Longhorn Fridays, in which all members of Longhorn Nation wear the University’s colors, began several years ago but flagged during the pandemic.
Now it’s time to restart one of our great unifying traditions by wearing burnt orange on Fridays wherever you are. If you’re a faculty member or student on the Forty Acres or if you’re an alumnus in Dallas or Dubai, Houston or Hong Kong, San Antonio or San Tropez, show your membership in Longhorn Nation by donning The Color.
If you’re wondering how burnt orange was chosen, don’t believe everything you read. Yes, Bevo is burnt orange and white, but that’s just a happy coincidence. The tradition of wearing orange and white goes back to 1885, when students wore lapel ribbons to show their spirit. As students had gathered downtown awaiting the train to Georgetown for UT’s first baseball game, two students ran to the nearest general store to buy ribbon for their fellow fans. The two most plentiful colors in stock were white, because every wedding required it, and orange, because it was the least popular. It was a long, complicated journey to making the colors official, but that was the first time they were used to represent the world’s greatest University.
How our orange became burnt is a longer story, and a fascinating one, which you can read in The Alcalde’s The Story of Burnt Orange, but the first time the hue became burnt orange, or “Texas orange,” was 1928.
So make it your Texas, and go loud and proud this Friday and every Friday in your best burnt orange. A T-shirt is the easiest way to show your Longhorn pride, but the color works great on everything from a scarf tie in the boardroom, to footie pajamas on a snow day, to tuxedos and evening gowns for a night at the symphony. Wherever you are, let ’em know you’re Longhorn proud!
