In 2010, Clemson officials asked the university's creative service team to create an effective brand. Branding is a marketing strategy that businesses and institutions use to identify and differentiate themselves from peers in their field. Colors are primary elements of a brand. The blend of natural beauty, history, architecture, sports uniform colors, symbols and people at Clemson forms a coordinated look because of the way Clemson integrated its older and newer colors.
Clemson's main colors -- orange, Regalia and Fort Hill -- have served the school for many years. Orange is Clemson's primary color. It is seen on the school's mascot, the tiger, the autumn foliage on the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains that surround the campus, and the burnt orange sunsets all year round over Lake Hartwell. Clemson's link to ancient ceremony shows up in university garb with Regalia -- a shade of purple -- and its second main color. Fort Hill -- a shade of white -- is Clemson's third primary color. It is the exterior color of John C. Calhoun's home, which is named Fort Hill and still stands on the campus grounds.
Clemson's creative service team added nine secondary colors to the school's three main colors. Tillman brick, a medium brown secondary color, represents Tillman Hall, the most widely recognized building on campus. The largest bur oak tree in South Carolina is named Centennial Oak, located on the Clemson campus. The tree's dark brown tone is also on the palette as a secondary school color. Another secondary color, Hartwell Moon, is seen as the off-white shade of the rising moon reflected in Hartwell Lake.
Bowman Field, a deep green secondary color, is representative of the historic large grassy area on the campus. The secondary color, Blue Ridge blue, is reflective of the campus lying nestled in the misty blue foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. A slate brown secondary color, named Howard's Rock, represents the mystical rock named after legendary football coach Frank Howard. Touched for luck by Clemson's football players before home games, it is allegedly responsible for some of Clemson's greatest football victories at Memorial Stadium.
Anna Maria Calhoun Clemson was the daughter of John C. Calhoun and wife of Clemson University's founder Thomas G. Clemson. The secondary color, Anna's Lace is a shade of ivory that reflects Anna Clemson's most-coveted keepsake, a Spanish lace scarf given her from the Queen of Spain. Innovation is a silver-gray secondary school color representing the Clemson Innovation Network, which partners certain university programs with private enterprise to stimulate technical innovation and economic development. The black Bengal Stripe secondary color represents the tiger, Clemson's mascot.