Did Auburn copy their “AU” logo from Alabama?

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Fritz Siler was a sophomore at Auburn University and a bass drummer for the Auburn University Marching Band in 1965, which for most was still the age of black and white television. When he caught glimpses of himself on Shug Jordan’s weekly Auburn Football Review, he thought there was a need for a more memorable emblem on his drum, something more than a simple—and gray, on television—’A.’

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At the time, Siler’s roommate happened to be working on a graphic for an industrial design project. To Siler, it looked similar to Indiana University’s overlapping “I” and “U” logo. A lightbulb went off.

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But it made its debut on Siler’s drum at the 1966 A-Day game: A navy blue interlocking AU with orange trim (he thought blue would help distinguish Auburn from orange-clad competition like Tennessee, Clemson, and Florida). He actually painted the logo on the $20 head of his bass drum before running the idea by band director Dr. Bodie Hinton.

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