University of South Florida Logo PNG
The University considers learning an integral part of life and development. Education provides a foundation for future careers and enables you to contribute to your homeland. The USF logo shows the importance of persistence and perseverance along the way.
USF is an acronym for the University of South Florida, Florida’s leading R1 research and educational institution. It is the eleventh-largest institution of higher education in the United States. The university has 14 colleges, where students earn more than 200 degrees at four levels of study: bachelor’s, master’s, specialist, and doctoral. USF is known for its high research activity: faculty, alumni, and students hold about 2,400 patents. The university is also home to the National Academy of Inventors, the Florida Inventors’ Hall of Fame, and its athletic teams. Its representatives compete in the American Athletic Conference and NCAA Division I. The university is in Tampa, with branch campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It opened in 1956.
The University of South Florida was the first university built in the 20th century. Its ancestor was Samuel Gibbons, a politician who represented the state’s interests in the U.S. Congress. He secured a modern university for the site of the former Henderson Airfield, which operated during World War II. Although it was founded in 1956, it was officially named later, and classes did not begin until 1960. The first graduation took place in 1963. Today, the institution is recognized as the most prestigious in the country’s public university system, and its affiliation is recognized worldwide.
Meaning and History
The university-wide emblem features a golden Brahman, later renamed a bull. The students who voted for it in 1962 chose it as a mascot. Since then, he has accompanied most of the university’s official paraphernalia, including the emblem. The bull’s head with steep horns is stylized to harmonize with the first letter of the USF name. The front of the logo features several transitions, diagonal lines, and cuts that resemble a hoofed animal’s muzzle. The horns point upward. They are rounded and broad at the base but taper toward the top. A thin gold strip outlines the symbol.
On the right side is the phrase “University of South Florida.” It is divided into two lines and left-aligned. At the top is “University of,” and at the bottom is “South Florida.” The main emphasis is on the second line: it uses large, bold type, while the letters in the first line are small and thin.
What is USF (University of South Florida)?
This public research institution’s main campus in Tampa, Florida, includes 14 colleges and offers over 180 academic programs. Business, engineering, medicine, and marine sciences programs are particularly valued here. The main campus features modern architecture, advanced research centers, a hospital complex, and an innovation center. A unique aspect is the close partnership with Tampa’s medical facilities and the IT industry. The well-known “Bull Market,” held weekly outdoors for students, has become a campus tradition. The Bulls’ athletic teams represent the university in the NCAA.
1956 – 2018
The University of South Florida’s old academic logo consisted of two parts. About a third of the space was taken up by the abbreviation “USF” in a dark green vertical rectangle. The letters were golden and dynamic thanks to the contrasting font, with large and small strokes of varying thicknesses.
To the right was a wordmark, the inscription “UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA,” divided into two lines. This phrase was set in uppercase glyphs with narrow, long serifs. For the university’s full name, the designers used the same dark green color as the quadrangle. Between the two levels, they drew a long horizontal gold line.
2018 – 2019
The new logo debuted in September 2018, and it received a strong response from USF students and alumni. The public did not like the lime-green bull, depicted in a minimalist style that uses negative space and strongly resembles the Merrill Lynch logo. The designers placed the institution’s name on the right and used a non-standard font. The university name used asymmetrical sans-serif letters. The capital letters “U,” “S,” and “F” with empty spaces, as well as the italicized preposition “of,” stood out the most.
The University of South Florida initially planned to use the iconic Bull U sports logo as its logo. Then the concept changed, and they created a new drawing from scratch. The animal’s pose was inspired by sculptures located on various campuses. The regal pose comes from the bull from Tampa, the curled tail from USF Sarasota-Manatee, and the upturned head from USF St. Paul. The university had already changed its logo once before, in March 2019, for nearly $8,000. The redesign process took five months, but in the end, the unloved bull remained, and only the tail’s shape and the hind leg’s location changed.
2019
On May 6, 2019, the University of South Florida announced it was ready to return to its classic green-and-gold color palette and abandon the logo students and alumni disliked. Instead, it was decided to use the Bull U emblem, which is associated with USF sports teams. In the original version, the horned letter “U,” stylized as a bull’s head, was on the left, and the institution’s name was on the right. All letters, except the diminutive preposition “OF,” were the same size. They were bold and elongated vertically. A gold-colored demarcation line ran between the text and the emblem.
2019 – today
Not long after, the designers released the logo again. In the new version, the inscription appeared in a more varied font. The largest is now the phrase “SOUTH FLORIDA” in the second line. The word “UNIVERSITY” is half the size, and the preposition “of” is almost invisible, written in small, thin lowercase letters. A separating vertical stripe is absent in this version of the emblem.
The Seal
The USF seal is round and classically designed. It consists of two main components: the center and the border. The center, highlighted by a golden-beige ring, depicts a transparent globe. It shows the North American continent, topped by a wide grid of parallels and meridians. This object is located on the right side. On the left is a makeshift sun. It has a round center surrounded by a white crown. Large rays diverge from it in different directions. They are long and prickly. This image emphasizes the region’s hot climate.
The lamp at the bottom, from which a flame bursts, evidences USF’s educational significance. It takes center stage between two ribbons inscribed with “TRUTH” and “Wisdom.” All surrounds a wide, light-colored ribbon bearing the university’s name and the year it was established. The inscription is in thin capital letters with tiny serifs.
Font and Colors
The primary basis for all USF visual identification marks is a Florida breed of bull called the Golden Braman. The bull was specifically chosen because animal husbandry is a major economic driver in the region. The first vote for the mascot was in 1962; the next was in 1980, when everyone realized the name mistake that made the teams look bad.
The USF seal uses the Univers family font; otherwise, it uses Garamond. A custom font is also present. The university’s official colors are green and gold, used in all versions of its identity.
