On Dec. 10, 2020, the Michigan State University football team made a long-awaited announcement: Fans would see Gruff Sparty on the Spartans’ football helmets that upcoming Saturday.
The special edition helmets came after years of fan requests for the Spartans to don the tough, vintage logo on game days. Since debuting in 2020, the special Gruff helmets have made appearances in various games throughout the years, the latest of which will be when the Spartans face off against the Northwestern Wildcats on Oct. 17.
The beloved caricature has long stood as a symbol of Spartan spirit and is a favorite among many Spartans.
Despite his popularity, one thing has remained unclear: Where did Gruff come from?
Trademarks and timelines
Cartoon-style college logos gained popularity from the 1960s to the 1980s, with schools across the country having their own versions of the now-vintage style.
Gruff Sparty was officially licensed as an MSU trademark on Dec. 3, 1985. Documentation submitted with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office lists Dec. 31, 1955, as the date the logo was first used by MSU.
However, when flipping through past yearbooks, we spotted Gruff a bit earlier than that. In the 1951 edition on page 292, in a photo of students studying in their residence hall, a pennant featuring Gruff is clearly visible above a student’s desk.
Was the pennant purchased from MSU or from another vendor? It’s hard to tell, and it seems Gruff’s appearance on campus has always been a bit of a mystery.
A 1976 article from student-run newspaper the State News about the logo includes quotes from representatives in Information Services, University Relations and Athletics all claiming they don’t know how Gruff Sparty came to be, despite the logo’s wide use across campus.
Though it hadn’t been officially adopted by MSU, Gruff was still seen on merchandise, ticket stubs, sheet music and more across the university for several years. The State News story at the time said, “Many think it was created by commercial interests for use on souvenirs.”
An anonymous artist
So, the timeline of Gruff’s debut is a little unclear. But who designed him in the first place?
The short answer is, we aren’t 100% sure.
On a deep dive into collegiate logo archives, we learned about one man who is credited with a majority of vintage college logos: Arthur “Art” Evans.
Evans was the lead designer at Angelus Pacific, a graphics company founded by Hugh Waddell. Evans and Waddell worked with college and university bookstore managers across the nation to design and create original mascots. Some of the classics attributed to Evans and Angelus Pacific are the Auburn Comic Tiger, University of Florida Gator and the Mississippi State Bulldog.
Gruff bears some of the key attributes associated with Evans’ designs, including a V-shaped slit on his pupil and the determined grimace of his expression.
In this era of design, licensing and trademarks did not operate the way they do today. Many schools used nearly identical mascots, and as the Angelus Pacific team went from campus to campus, they repurposed existing designs for schools with the same or similar mascots.
For this reason, there are similar versions of Gruff Sparty often connected to past logos from other universities as well as several high schools and school districts.
When we reached out to the Angelus Pacific team, they could not confirm if Gruff was one of their designs, but they did note that in 1951, Evans was “at his peak” with the company, indicating there could be some shared history.
Tough times for the tough guy
Though the favorite logo of many Spartans today, Gruff was not always popular among the MSU community.
In the April 9, 1976, edition of the State News, an article titled “Instead of close shave, Sparty will get the ax” was published. The story details then-Vice President for University and Federal Relations Robert Perrin’s plan to hold a logo-drawing contest to find a design to replace Gruff.
Perrin and other critics among staff and students wanted a logo that was more “intellectual-looking,” saying that Gruff did not properly represent the university. Given that it was an unofficial logo at the time, some people interviewed also expressed desire for more clear brand guidelines to be used across the university.
Though his origin story is filled with mystery, one thing is for sure: Gruff Sparty is a beloved MSU symbol who represents the grit and determination that define what it means to be a Spartan.
Share your stories or information about Gruff Sparty by emailing msutoday@msu.edu.
