The Rice Owls have a new logo, and it’s pretty sweet

On the collegiate level, the newest form of re-branding came at Rice University, which unveiled new logos on Tuesday, including an updated look for the Owl.

Along with the Owl, Rice has three other logos and fonts that the athletic department will use from now on.

The look is definitely more modern, and gives both the logo and font a fresher feel from the past design. Some of the school’s old logos:

“Our goal with the brand refresh was to create a consistent aesthetic that best represents Rice,” Rice Athletic Director Joe Karlgaard said in an official release. “We saw an opportunity to create something clear and visually memorable that would complement our primary mark, the Old English R.“

Rice’s mascot, although it has been the owl since the early 1900s, has changed quite a bit throughout the years. Here’s Rice’s football posing with a real, live owl from 1917. I’m not so sure holding an owl out by its wings is the smartest idea, but ...

Rice’s school website further chronicles the mascot’s changes, along with one hilarious (and seemingly unreal) story about how Texas A&M once stole Rice’s beloved owl mascot, that was made out of canvas and stuffed with wood shavings.

After a Rice basketball victory over Texas A&M in 1917, several Aggies kidnapped the mascot and sent a message: “If Rice wishes to claim their bird and ever think they are able to take him back to the ‘Institoot,’ they can find him at 37 Milner Hall, College Station, Texas.”

Here’s a look at the kidnapped owl, sporting two hats, a sword around its neck, and what looks like a rifle under its right wing.

Rice students, luckily, would successfully get the mascot back. Rice then put “Sammy,” the owl’s nickname, on campus in a variety of different ways — in cartoons, as live owls, and then live owls with a human dressed in a mascot costume, beginning in the 1970s.

I’m pretty sure this was Rice’s attempt at making Sammy look like a Furbie, but I digress. The most recent adaptation of the mascot Sammy the Owl was created in 2012.

It’s unclear whether or not Rice’s new logo will also mean a redesigned Sammy too, but it wouldn’t be surprising if we see a new one sometime soon.