Mascot

A mascot – originally a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – now includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fictional spokespeople for consumer products, such as the rabbit used in advertising and marketing for the General Mills Trix brand of breakfast cereal.

Sports teams widely have mascots, especially at university and school level in the United States, where teams are often identified by their mascot. Team mascots will typically make a regular appearance at games and related events, while logos and merchandise can often bear the mascot's image. In many instances the mascot corresponds with the team name. Sometimes the mascot is for the school itself rather than just a single team, such as Rowdy the Roadrunner, the mascot of the University of Texas at San Antonio. Mascots are not always animals; characters may be fantasy creatures (Deamon Deacon), people, or inanimate objects (Mr. Met or Purdue University's Boilermaker Special).

The term mascot can also refer to a costumed character based on the character design, used in public appearances. The terms are generally interchangeable. The actor in Mickey Mouse character costume is a mascot for the Walt Disney Company, but supporting characters such as Goofy or Donald Duck, are commonly referred to as costumed characters or actors in character costumes.

Etymology

The word mascot has been traced back to a dialectic use in Provence and Gascony, where it was used to describe anything which brought luck to a household. The suggestion that the word is derived from masqu (meaning masked or concealed), the Provincial French for a child born with a caul, in allusion to the lucky destiny of such children, is improbable.

The word was first popularized in 1880, when French composer Edmond Audran wrote a popular comic operetta titled La Mascotte. However, it had been in use in France long before this, as French slang among gamblers, derived from the Occitan word masco, meaning witch (perhaps from Portuguese mascotto, meaning witchcraft), and also mascoto, meaning spell.

Audran's operetta was so popular that it was translated into English as The Mascot, introducing into the English language a word for any animal, person, or object that brings good luck. The word with this definition was then incorporated into many other languages, although often in the French form mascotte.

Choices and identities

File:Mc Hammerhead and Razorback Jack.jpg

McHammerhead and Razorback Jack at Silvania McDonalds charity event McHappy Day.

"Clutch the Bear," the costumed character mascot for the NBA's Houston Rockets, with fans.

Often the choice of mascot reflects a desired quality; a common example of this is the fighting spirit, in which a competitive nature is personified by warriors or predatory animals. Mascots may also symbolize a local or regional trait, such as the Dallas Cowboys, which refers to the Texan ranching tradition, or the Nebraska Cornhuskers, whose mascot is Herbie Husker (a man wearing overalls and a cowboy hat with corn husks coming out one pocket). In instances where the traditional mascot is specifically male, all-female athletic teams may adopt a variation of the mascot, such as the University of Wyoming Cowboys, whose female teams are called the Cowgirls.

Mascots are not exclusively anthropomorphized animals or personifications of human character traits. For example, Stanford University's sports teams are named after the color cardinal, and its mascot is The Tree.

In the United States, controversy surrounds some mascot choices, especially those of human likenesses. Mascots based on Native American tribes are particularly contentious, as many argue that they constitute offensive exploitations of an oppressed culture. However, such debates are not unique to Native American mascots: Alfred University, a school of approximately 2,000 students in Western New York has the Saxon as its mascot, represented as a charging knight in armor, and intended to symbolize strength and courage. Others protest that the Saxon represents male chauvinism.

Famous mascots outside the U.S. include the Australian McHammerhead, the Cronulla Sharks Rugby League mascot; Timmy The Tiger, the West Tigers Mascot rugby league team; Razorback Jack, the West Sydney Razorbacks National Basketball League mascot; Syd, the Sydney, the mascots for Sydney FC A League;

Some teams have unofficial mascots that may be fans identified with the team. The New York Yankees, for example, have a hardcore fan known as Freddy Sez who is considered a mainstay at Yankee Stadium and unofficial mascot of the team. Former Toronto Blue Jays mascot BJ Birdie was a costume created by a random fan; after he jumped onto Exhibition Place field, receiving positive reactions from fans, the team hired him to perform regularly for more than a decade.

Military mascots

Mascots are also popular in military units. For example, the United States Marine Corps uses the bald eagle as a formal emblem; the bulldog is also popularly associated with the U.S. Marines.

Many regiments of the British Army have a live animal mascot which may appear on parades, including a ram for the 95th Derbyshire Regiment, an Irish Wolfhound for the Irish Guards, a Shetland pony for the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, and a goat for the Royal Regiment of Wales. Other British military mascots include a pair of drummer horses, an antelope, and a ferret.

The Norwegian Royal Guard adopted an Emperor Penguin named Niles Olav as its mascot on the occasion of a visit to Edinburgh by its regimental band. The (very large) penguin remains resident at Edinburgh Zoo and has been formally promoted by one rank on the occasion of each subsequent visit to Britain by the band or other detachments of the Guard. Regimental Sergeant Major Olav was awarded the Norwegian Army's Long Service and Good Conduct medal at a ceremony in 2005.

External links

Etymology

Choices and identities

Military mascots

See also

External links