Mules get new logo - officially

Tigers, Eagles, Bulldogs, Wildcats and Panthers are the five most common high school mascots in the state of Missouri.

Across the entire United States, according to a website that tracks such things, there are more Eagles (1,371) than Tigers (903). But here it's the other way, 62-49, since the state university has a tiger mascot -- named after the militia that protected Columbia during the Civil War.

There are also more Mules in Missouri than any other state -- it's the official state animal. Of the 12 Mules mascots, five are in Missouri -- Poplar Bluff, Bernie, Lathrop, Lone Jack and Wheatland -- and they all use the same basic logo design for their athletic teams based on the University of Central Missouri's Mule logo.

Poplar Bluff changed that Thursday night at the R-I school board meeting. By purchasing the rights to the logo the school has used for the last four years in various capacities, Poplar Bluff can set itself apart from those other Mules.

Poplar Bluff was once known as the Yellow Jackets and the girls basketball team of the 1920-30s was the Zippers. The Mule came in with coach E.T. Peters, who went to Central Missouri before coaching football, basketball and track here starting in 1923.

The Mule head logo that was purchased Thursday was first adopted by the wrestling team and has been used on football helmets since 2008. The logo also is used to identify the school on the MSHSAA website.

So why did the school have to pay $ for ©?

That little symbol stands for copyright, which protects material a person creates from being used without their permission. In other words, this column cannot be reprinted in a book, website or bathroom stall without permission of the publisher. It goes for photos, art, movies, music and anything else created by someone.

Many of the logos used by schools and other sports teams are actually stolen, used without permission from the original holder.

The Tigers logo created to represent Mizzou should not be used for a high school team unless that school pays for the right to use it. Changing it in color or shape doesn't make a new logo or get around the law to avoid a cease-and-disist letter.

Of the 16 area high schools (around Poplar Bluff), five use copycat logos of college or professional teams on their website or with MSHSAA, while seven are original designs and four could pass as clipart from a computer program.

A school or team should want to stand out from the thousands of other Eagles, Tigers or Bulldogs.

There are actually 21 other schools with Dons mascot, 10 Whippets and three Camels -- all of which are located in a city or county named Campbell. Clarkton is the only school in the United States with a Reindeer mascot, according to the high school mascot website.

Poplar Bluff, meanwhile, gets to standout with this transformation and it was relatively cheap -- no signs or letterhead was harmed in the making of this decision.