Tyler the Tiger mascot costume, circa 2000-2010s

It wasn't until the 1910s that black and gold had been adopted as DePauw University's official school colors. No name for the athletic teams had been adopted either. "Fighting Parsons" was occasionally applied to the football team, but the usual term for the intercollegiate sports competitions was simply "Old Gold." In 1917-1918, the athletic "D" Association sponsored a contest to pick an appropriate epithet, one that would reflect spirit and the school colors. "Tigers" won out over the "Yellowjackets," "Wasps," and "Yellow Demons." Of note, gold was first used as the college color at the DePauw-Wabash football game in the fall of 1890. Previous to that time the color had been blue, although the college papers do not speak of a college color.