“To the red, to the red! To the blue, to the blue! Who are we? We’re F–A–U!”

A chant known by every FAU student like the backs of their hands. School pride is a large part of student life here at FAU. You can’t walk down the Breezeway, into the Student Union or really anywhere around campus without somebody wearing school colors.

Airbase-turned-university, FAU was opened in 1964 in the hope of being a part of the “new breed of American universities.” FAU was an opportunity to break away from the “tradition-bound world of academe” and modernize learning for everyone.

According to FAU’s visual standards, FAU Blue is the dominant color. FAU Red is meant to be a complement to blue, in a similar fashion to the American flag. Most FAU gear is accented with white, but FAU Silver is the official accent color.

The origination of these colors is somewhat of a mystery. The FAU Student Handbook says that the first vice president for University Relations, Adelaide Snyder, suggested blue and tan to signify the ocean and the sand.

Being a former Army Judge Advocate General, Roger Miller, the FAU administrative officer at the time, disapproved of the tan. So, Snyder brought in a color chart to find the colors that were right to represent the school.

In the end, French blue and silver grey were chosen. FAU Red was later added as an accent.

Now, to the approximately 30,000 FAU student body, being an Owl is something to be proud of. Students dress up in school colors and participate in school events to show their pride.

But the predominant color seen on campus is red instead of blue. Even though blue was meant to be the school’s main color, red gets equal recognition.

Though blue is still included in all things FAU, red is also present. A lot of school organizations make spirit wear with red as the base color. Our football team even has red helmets that they sometimes wear.

Silver is seen even less around campus. Out of 19 FAU students interviewed in the Breezeway, none of them even knew silver was a school color — instead, they said white.

It’s not always easy coming up with the perfect outfit for every school event. Sometimes events are more on the casual side, while others require a little more effort.

There are some simple ways to incorporate FAU’s colors into an outfit, whether it be an everyday look or something dressier.

The following pictures show looks doing just that, modeled by various Owls.