In June 1872, Syracuse adopted rose pink and pea green as the official colors of the University and its athletic teams. The colors were changed the next year to rose tint and azure, later becoming pink and blue.
After a football field meet at nearby Hamilton College in 1889 which Syracuse won, derisive comments about the victors’ colors led the SU student body to the conclusion that yet another change should be made.
A committee made up of students and faculty members discovered that orange had not been adopted by any college or university as a single color. In 1890 the Alumni Association rendered a unanimous decision and orange has been the sole official color of Syracuse University since that year.
Men’s varsity teams soon became known as the Orange or Orangemen. When women began competing in varsity sports in 1971, they selected the nickname Orangewomen. In 2004, the University made the decision to have all teams, men and women, referred to as the Syracuse Orange, to reflect the original nickname of SU's teams.