Mascot Mania: the Evolution of NC State's Mascot - Part III

Blog post contributed by Trey Kaufman, Special Collections Public Services Desk Assistant, and edited by Taylor Wolford. 

From a pack of wolves to a wolf named Zeke, NC State’s logo has changed many times throughout university history. In the final post of the Mascot Mania series, we’ve highlighted different versions of NC State's logo in student and university publications from the 1930s to today. Part I and Part II of the series discuss the history of live mascots and costumed mascots at NC State.

1930s

The 1930s logo designs portrayed realistic-looking wolves, as opposed to the animated designs used today. Realistic wolf imagery was reflected in several publications for the college at the time, ranging from the Agromeck student yearbook to football programs. The 1930s logos often featured a lone wolf posing with an aggressive stance and facial expression. A few athletics publications from this time featured a pack of wolves described as the "Wolfpack," including the following football program from 1934. Until 1947, only the football team was called the Wolfpack, and other sports teams were called the Red Terrors and a variety of other names.
 

1940s

The 1940s continued with the trend of realistic wolf logos, and more representations of the Wolfpack, or a group of wolves, appeared. In the 1947 Agromeck, a student-drawn logo featured a line of three wolves moving together was displayed next to the text "The Wolfpack." In the same year, all NC State athletics teams adopted Wolfpack as the official name. 

Despite Ms. Wuf not being introduced for another 30 years, a female wolf was included in the 1948 Agromeck. The drawing was published in a "feature" section of the Agromeck highlighting women on campus in the 1940s and showcased a female-looking wolf with long eyelashes, hoop earrings, and a bracelet wrapped around her front leg. On the opposite page was a male wolf looking toward the female wolf in a playful pose. 

The 1948 Student Handbook featured an early version of the wolf head logo, too! In the 1940s, the wolf head design was used sporadically in campus publications, and appeared more frequently post-World War II. The wolf head shown below has some similarities to the logo used today, although the red and white hat has "N.C.S." stitched on the front instead of "NC State."

1950s

In the 1950s, football programs continued to use wolf logos, and new student-drawn images were published in the Agromeck. The 1950 Agromeck featured unique wolf drawings, including wolves participating in various sports like basketball. Football programs branched out to include information on other sports, and with this change, wolf graphics for each sport were designed. 

1960s

NC State's wolf logo changed constantly in the 1960s. A recurring design in university sports programs was a human-like wolf dressed in clothing, from a football jersey to a dress suit. A 1967 football program included an image of a wolf dressed up for a game standing on four legs with its fangs aggressively bared. Another drawing from a commemorative basketball program showed a wolf dressed in a suit building a statue in honor of Coach Everett Case after he retired from coaching in 1965. 

According to the NC State Trademark Licensing Office, the "Tuffy the Strutting Wolf" logo appeared for the first time in the early 1960s, and this basic graphic became the standard for today's design. The university has not attributed the design to a singular artist, however, according to this 2020 Technician article, Nola Armstrong sketched one of the earliest versions of the "Strutting Wolf" logo in 1964. In the sketch, the wolf stood upright and wore a hat and a sweater decorated with a big block-shaped “S” and “NC” in smaller lettering.

1970s

Agromecks published in the 1970s contained only a few wolf graphics designed by students. Instead, the variety of logos published in university athletics programs multiplied. The 1974 basketball season, ending with the Wolfpack winning the NCAA championship, incorporated celebratory wolf imagery, such as an image of the wolf wearing a crown. The Technician student newspaper also used new designs in the 1970s, including an image of a friendly wolf mascot in a bowl of tangerines for the Tangerine Bowl Special.

1980s

Wolf logos were heavily featured in athletics publications throughout the 1980s with creative new images published. A variation of the "Strutting Wolf" design appeared several times in campus publications with the iconic red-striped sweater and "NCSU" hat. Special editions of the Technician made the wolf a central character in comic strips, often depicting NC State's victory over other sports teams in dramatic fashion. 

1990s

Similar to previous decades, the vast majority of wolf logos from the 1990s were in athletics and Technician publications, with very few wolf illustrations published in Agromecks. Agromecks from this decade were mostly devoid of wolf drawings with a few exceptions. In the 1996 edition of the Agromeck, an image of the Wolfpack with three wolves centered on the page reappeared, similiar to the previous Wolfpack logo from the 1940s. 

2000s-today

Although there was a decline in new logo designs from the 2000s to the 2010s, NC State started to standardize its logo design for more consistent branding. In 2005, the "Strutting Tuffy" logo was updated to allow for more consistent reproduction and a modern appearance. The new and improved Tuffy walked with his left foot forward, and he wore a red sweater with the Block S and a round hat with the name “NC STATE” in all-caps. The wolf head design was also updated in 2005 to support more consistent branding and licensing efforts for the university. In the future, there may be additional changes to the iconic NC State logo, but some themes and designs have persisted for many years to represent the ever-growing Wolfpack. 

For further research on this topic, refer to the Special Collections Research Center Historical State Timelines page on Mascots, Colors, Team Names, and Symbols. If you have any questions or are interested in viewing Special Collections materials, please contact us at library_specialcollections@ncsu.edu or submit a request online. The Special Collections Research Center is open by appointment only. Appointments are available Monday–Friday, 9am–6pm and Saturday, 1pm–5pm. Requests for a Saturday appointment must be received no later than Tuesday of the same week.