South Florida Bulls Logo PNG
Designed for the South Florida Bulls, the logo represents the first letter of the USF acronym. The green “U” is stylized as a bull’s head: curved horns with sharp ends are depicted on top, and thickenings in the lower part look like nostrils flared in anger. The emblem’s sharp lines and rightward tilt create a dynamic feel.
The University of South Florida’s athletic program began in 1965, nine years after USF opened in Tampa in 1956. The university opened to students in 1960, and academics took precedence early on. Its first team began competing in 1965, and its debut game ended in a win over a local community college.
USF joined the NCAA in 1968, gaining access to organized national competition. However, its teams spent the next few years outside the top tier. In 1983, several Bulls teams entered the Sun Belt Conference. In 1995, most programs moved to Conference USA, which raised the level of opponents and gave the school broader media exposure.
The biggest shift came with football. In 1997, USF launched its football program at the Division I-AA level under head coach Jim Leavitt. By 2001, the program had moved to Division I-A. In 2003, USF joined the Big East and faced opponents such as Connecticut and Cincinnati. The peak came in 2007, when the Bulls climbed to No. 2 in the AP Poll before losing to Oregon in the Fort Worth Bowl.
Leavitt left in 2009, and the football program entered a less stable period under Skip Holtz, Willie Taggart, and Charlie Strong. In 2013, after the Big East was restructured, USF became a founding member of the American Athletic Conference. Throughout the 2010s, the Bulls continued to compete in 17 sports and fielded about 500 student-athletes. At the same time, football remained the main focus of long-term investment.
Meaning and History
The South Florida Bulls’ logo history began in the 1960s, when the University of South Florida (USF) established its first sports team. The team’s mascot was the mighty American Brahman bull, symbolizing strength, perseverance, and longevity. This animal has become famous for its ability to withstand high humidity and tropical heat. Artists depicted him in some detail on early emblems, though in a cartoon style.
At first, he was shown in full growth, then only his head remained, a yellow head with black shadows around it. That changed in 2003 when marketing agency Silverman Group designed the South Florida Bulls’ iconic Bull U, a green “U” with horns.
What is South Florida Bulls?
The South Florida Bulls are a collection of over two dozen sports teams that compete for the University of South Florida at the NCAA Division I level. Most compete in the American Athletic Conference, except for the sailing team, which participates in the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association. The USF athletics department began in 1964, when President John S. Allen reconsidered intercollegiate competition and decided students’ daily lives should not be limited to education alone.
1962 – 1987
The circular emblem features an anthropomorphic bull of formidable appearance, and its surrounding inscription dates back to that time. The animal stands on its hind legs, dressed in a sports uniform with the abbreviation “USF” on its chest. The horns are spread wide, the ears are down, and a high hump can be seen on the back. The large trim ring bears the name of the athletic department, “Golden Brahman. Ten stars separate it from the lower text, five on each side. All logo elements are green on a white background. The letters are grotesque, bold, and elongated.
1997 – 2003
After a redesign ahead of the fall soccer season, the bull’s image was changed to highlight the athletes’ power, strength, and bravery. The designers used confident lines, jerky strokes, geometric proportions, and precise angles. The result was a golden head of a cloven-hoofed animal placed on a dark green rhombus background. It has a red eye, sharp, side-splitting horns, and a trapezoidal ear.
The muzzle shows a zigzag pattern resembling a lightning bolt with a 4-line branching at the end. The same stripes are located on the massive neck, but in different colors. The black-and-yellow combination heightens the sense of danger. The bull has its head up and looks down at its opponent. Nearby, “South Florida Bulls” appears in flat, streamlined letters with yellow trim. Prominent among them is a wavy “S,” an “H” with a protruding crossbar, and a capital “F” made as if it were lowercase.
2003 – 2011
This period is famous because it’s when the current version of the emblem was first proposed, simple but highly symbolic. It is called the Iconic Bull. The Silverman Group studio created the modified logo. The new visual identity mark presents a harmonious two-in-one concept: the first letter of the university’s abbreviation, which the sports department uses, and the image of a charging bull. The associative connection between the symbol and the animal’s muzzle can be seen in the shape and thickness of the lines.
2011 – today
The redesign resulted in a revised color palette. It shifted several tones toward lightness, so the logo colors are a little softer than before.
Font and Colors
In their identity, the South Florida Bulls use a typeface similar to Serpentine Italic or Bold Oblique. But neither has the iconic letter “U” with sharp horns. The sports team logo features a custom glyph, created in collaboration with the Silverman Group. This non-standard pattern imitates a bull’s head and repeats its shape, except for the central recess.
The emblem’s color palette consists of dark green (PMS 342, #006747) and gold (PMS 4535, #D6CCA3). According to the archives, the original logo used similar shades and was in use until 1981. The team adopted the golden color because its first mascot was a golden Brahman bull