Autumn Spectacle: Hawkeye History

Herky, On Iowa and Floyd

Iowa University's colors are Black and Gold. The nickname, Hawkeyes, was taken from a fictional character, a scout, in James Fenimore Cooper’s novel, "The Last of the Mohicans.”

Herky the Hawk came to life as a cartoon character created by a journalism instructor, and was adopted as the official mascot in the mid 50's. The costumed mascot leads the team out, roams the sidelines and is everywhere on gameday.

In 2004, 90 Herky statues were placed around town, in surrounding communities and on campus, each named and dressed differently, such as "Hercules Herky" holding the planet earth overhead, "Big Ten Herky" with logos of all the Big Ten schools, and "Fowl" with Herky dressed as a referee, throwing a penalty flag.

The Hawkeye Marching Band, 240 members strong, fills the air with the music of gameday, including, "The Iowa Fight Song,” "On Iowa" ("Iowa, Iowa...Iowa, Iowa… I-O-W-A!") and "Alma Mater Iowa.”

The annual November game against the Minnesota Gophers is a rivalry between schools of bordering states, signified by the traveling trophy of a bronze pig, kept by the winning team each year. In 1935, the Governor of Iowa, Clyde Herring, and Minnesota’s Governor, Floyd Olson, placed a wager on the Iowa vs. Minnesota game.

Minnesota won, and Herring gave Gov. Olson a champion pig named Floyd of Rosedale, as a trophy. Floyd the pig was the brother of Blueboy, from the movie, "State Fair." Olson commissioned a sculptor to create a bronze image of Floyd of Rosedale, mounted on a stand. Minnesota leads the series, but the Hawkeyes won in 2004, and Floyd resides in Iowa City, for now.

Iowa’s other annual rivalry is of the in-state variety – against the Iowa State Cyclones. The rivalry started in 1894, was played continuously until 1920, then it was discontinued until 1977, when the series resumed. The Iowa State contest, played for the CyHawk Trophy, is the second game of the season, and is fiercely contested.

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“This is the beauty of college football. Passion and petulance is so pervasive, one loss could be devastating."
- Matt Hayes,
The Sporting News