{"id":275195,"date":"2025-11-06T13:27:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T13:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/275195\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T13:27:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T13:27:11","slug":"scarlet-knights-quietly-changed-their-color-now-some-rutgers-fans-are-ugh-seeing-red","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/275195\/","title":{"rendered":"Scarlet Knights quietly changed their color. Now, some Rutgers fans are (ugh) seeing red."},"content":{"rendered":"

From the outside, the drab brick building in a Carlstadt industrial park hardly looks like a fitting home for the self-described \u201cleading source of color expertise\u201d in the world. A three-panel display in the lobby for the 2022 Color of the Year \u2014 Very Peri (Pantone 17-3938<\/a>) \u2014 lets us know we are in the right place.<\/p>\n

We have come here because we need help solving a color conundrum at the heart of New Jersey college sports. Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, greets us near those purple panels and takes the bag with the athletic apparel we have asked her experts to inspect. <\/p>\n

She opens it, peeks inside and renders the first judgment. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese are very different!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Even our untrained eyes could see that. One garment in the bag is an official Rutgers<\/a> windbreaker made by Adidas and purchased from the university\u2019s website for $85. The other is an official Rutgers windbreaker made by Nike and purchased minutes later from the same website for $84.99. <\/p>\n

The merch is visible proof that, when Rutgers switched from Adidas to Nike this year, it also switched hues \u2014 a subtle change that did not go unnoticed among diehard fans. Every college has an official color, of course, but Rutgers is one of a handful that deems that choice important enough to attach to its nickname.<\/p>\n

To determine which is the proper scarlet for the Scarlet Knights, we interviewed university historians and officials, talked to nearly a dozen fans and pored through campus archives. Finally, our investigation took us to Pantone, where Pressman said it would take about a week for her lab technicians to render a verdict. <\/p>\n

The Adidas windbreaker is a darker, richer, more serious color.<\/p>\n

The Nike windbreaker is brighter, bolder, more orange in hue. <\/p>\n

They are both red. But which is scarlet? <\/p>\n

# # # <\/p>\n

George Baier saw the difference right away when the Scarlet Knights took the field for their first football game this season. Five generations of his family have attended Rutgers, and Baier still has a felt scarlet banner that was tacked to the wall in his father\u2019s dorm room.<\/p>\n

He looked at the old banner. <\/p>\n

He looked at the new uniforms. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just not the right color,\u201d Baier said. \u201cIt just looks \u2026 wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baier was furious. Would LSU run onto the field in a new purple hue? Would Texas pick a lighter shade of burnt orange? Baier began crafting an angry email to new university president William Tate \u2014 call it his (ugh) scarlet letter \u2014 and instructed his family not to buy him any Nike gear. <\/p>\n

\"NewNJ Advance Media staffers Pat Lanni (left) and Christopher Burch model the different shades of scarlet between Adidas and Nike Rutgers sports official gear, Tuesday, Oct, 28, 2025 in the NJAM studio in Woodbridge, N.J. Both reporters are graduates of Rutgers.Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com<\/p>\n

This is hardly the biggest source of outrage among fans these days, of course. Based on how the football season has unfolded<\/a>, a more appropriate color for the general mood in Piscataway might be Strong Blue (Pantone 18-4051<\/a>). <\/p>\n

But Rutgers tied itself to scarlet before college football even existed. In May 1869, students voted for it as the university\u2019s color after a recommendation in The Daily Targum. Six months later, when Rutgers faced Princeton in the first intercollegiate football game<\/a>, its players wore scarlet handkerchiefs to distinguish them from their opponents. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe fun part is, you could really have your own color back then,\u201d said Steve Greene, a 1979 Rutgers graduate and unofficial university historian. \u201cThey wanted a fire-engine red and (decided), \u2018Why don\u2019t we put some cadmium orange in with bright red?\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

It is impossible to pinpoint what exact color Rutgers trustees when had in mind when they ratified the students\u2019 choice in 1900, but they were serious about their scarlet. \u201cNow we need have no fear that any attempt will be made to deprive us of it,\u201d the trustees declared. <\/p>\n

Well, about that \u2026<\/p>\n

A century later, team colors would become a fluid concept in modern college athletics. The idea that a team would have two uniforms, for home and away games, is as dated as those head handkerchiefs from the first game. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are looking at the uniform as a canvas to tell their story \u2014 or as a piece of art,\u201d said Todd Van Horne, a designer who ushered in a new era at Oregon<\/a> in the late \u201990s. <\/p>\n

Oregon traded in their quaint Duck cartoon logo for a sleek \u201cO\u201d and decided their green color could mean anything from emerald to forest to Gatorade. Players have helped design the uniforms over the years, with Quinn Van Horne, Todd\u2019s son and partner, asking them questions that seem stolen from a psychological test. <\/p>\n

Who do you want to be when you suit up on the field? Are you looking to be Black Panther? Are you wanting to feel like a fast Ferrari?<\/p>\n

\"OregonNo football program has taken more liberties with its official colors than Oregon, whose designers consider their uniforms to be a canvas. (Courtesy of Oregon athletics) Oregon Athletics<\/p>\n

This trend was not for everyone. Michigan is so particular about its maize and blue that the Pantone numbers are listed on its website<\/a>. Rutgers tried a few unique designs over the years \u2014 fans still gripe about the \u201cSalmon Knights\u201d from a decade ago \u2014 but ultimately has leaned toward the traditional.<\/p>\n

The university declared that its official scarlet was Pantone 186C, a decision that should have ended the debate. But the Adidas uniforms its athletic teams wore for years, according to contracts obtained through an open records request, were actually Pantone 187C. <\/p>\n

Rutgers (gasp) was wearing the wrong red. <\/p>\n

But was it wearing the right scarlet? <\/p>\n

# # # <\/p>\n

The laboratory at Pantone headquarters is painted a dull gray and uses D65 lighting \u2014 bulbs that were determined to best represent average daylight \u2014 to ensure the optimal conditions for evaluating color. This is where the company\u2019s color experts analyzed our two Rutgers windbreakers in a special light booth. <\/p>\n

Pantone, founded in New Jersey as a commercial printing business in 1950, developed a matching system six years later that standardized the ink formulas used in colors globally. It has carved out a niche helping companies develop a color strategy consistent with their brand vision. <\/p>\n

When Universal Pictures grew frustrated that adorable characters from its \u201cDespicable Me\u201d franchise were turning up everywhere in the wrong colors, it turned to Pantone. Soon, it developed Minion Yellow (Pantone 13-0851<\/a>), which \u201cprojects playfulness and warmth and is suggestive of intellectual curiosity.\u201d <\/p>\n

Pressman told us that color consistency is key to a brand identity, and that is especially true with a college team. \u201cAll the uniforms need to look the same, all the marketing needs to look the same \u2014 it is extremely important,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Pantone gave us a report with its findings \u2014 and the conclusion might surprise Rutgers.<\/p>\n

\u201cPantone 187C, the old uniform color made by Adidas, is closest to what we would traditionally call a scarlet shade,\u201d the report read. \u201cHowever, Pantone 186C, the new red shade from Nike, displays an added vibrancy that feels more contemporary. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhereas they are both emblematic of sport and fitness and would be considered pillars of collegiate color, the Adidas Red had a retro feeling while the Nike Red could be considered a more modern classic red shade.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RutgersThe color of the Adidas-produced Rutgers uniforms were Pantone 187C. The problem? The university’s official color is listed as Pantone 186C. (NJ Advance Media file) Rutgers<\/p>\n

In short: The old uniforms are the purer scarlet color, but the new uniforms give off a more contemporary vibe. Pantone\u2019s experts opted for a Safety Yellow (Pantone 13-0630<\/a>) in their response. <\/p>\n

That still didn\u2019t solve another mystery. Why did Rutgers end up changing its colors this season? The answer, it turns out, is so very \u2026 Rutgers.<\/p>\n

When the university switched from Nike to Adidas in 2017, the latter did not have Pantone 186C available. Pantone 187C, listed as \u201cTeam Power Red\u201d in the Adidas online catalog, was the next best option. That\u2019s it. That\u2019s the reason.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you\u2019re seeing now in the Nike uniform is the true scarlet color,\u201d a university official said. <\/p>\n

Fans seem happy with the change. An unscientific survey of 30 tailgaters on Homecoming found that 19 preferred the Nike scarlet, 10 liked the old Adidas red better while one had no opinion. <\/p>\n

When we pulled up a photo of the two windbreakers, side by side, to show that one undecided fan the clear difference between the two, Connor Warren just shrugged. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m color blind.\u201d <\/p>\n

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