Black and gold have been Southern Miss' colors since the beginning of our institution, thanks to Florence Burrow Pope who, along with her husband Moran, was in the school's first class in 1912.

Soon after the doors of Mississippi Normal College opened, a committee was appointed to make recommendations concerning school colors. Florence was on the committee. "We were charged with selecting colors which no other college in Mississippi had adopted," she said. "Marye Miller suggested that the colors be maroon and gray. I suggested that they be black and gold. The two suggestions were submitted to the student body, and the student voted to have black and gold as the school colors."

The earliest nickname for the university's athletic teams was Tigers, but early teams were also referred to as Normalties. Then, in 1924, our teams' name was changed to Yellow Jackets.

When the college was renamed Mississippi Southern College in 1940, a name change for the athletic teams was fitting. In April 1940, the student body voted to name the teams Confederates. The teams were called the Confederates during fall 1940 and spring 1941. In September 1941, Confederates was dropped, and the teams were named Southerners.

Several years later, in 1953, General Nat (for Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest) was approved as the Southerners' mascot. In 1972, alumni, faculty, students, and staff were asked to submit new names for the athletic teams, and an ad hoc committee appointed by the Alumni Association voted on the submissions. Our present mascot, the Golden Eagles, was chosen as the athletic teams' name.