Cal State Northridge Matadors are teams that stand for the University of Cal State Northridge in 19 sports. From 1996 to 2000, they played at the Big Sky Conference. Since 1990, they have been participating in the NCAA Division I as members of the Big West Conference. The name Matadors was approved in 1958. Most of the students voted for it, who were offered to choose between Titans, Rancheros, Falcons, Apollos, and Matadors. The winning option is related to the Spanish cultural heritage.
Meaning and History
Cal State Northridge Matadors had four main emblems. They are united by the image of a matador depicted with a red cloak in his hands. Only the details and styles of drawing are different. For example, in 1988, the teams appeared logo with the phrase “Cal State Northridge Matadors.” The last word was covered by a large white rhombus surrounded by a black line. Then the name of the sports department moved to the matador cape. By 2006, only the large black letter “N” with wide contours of white, red, and black colors remained from the full inscription.
1988 – 1998
1999 – 2005
2006 – 2013
2014 – today
The modern logo was adopted in 2014. It, as before, depicts a matador. But this time, the artists tried to convey the dynamics: because of black shadows and smooth bends, it seems that the free edge of the cloak is floating in the air. At the bottom is the acronym CSUN (short for California State University, Northridge). Below it is the word “Matadors,” in Vitesse Black font. The color scheme includes black (# 000000), Pantone 428C (# D1CEC6) and Pantone 186C (# CE1126).
