TEMPE, Ariz. — Happy birthday, Sparky the Sun Devil!
ASU's mascot is turning 77 on Monday but how exactly did he come to represent the university?
Back before ASU became ASU and before Arizona even became a state, ASU was founded as the Territorial Normal School at Tempe in 1885 (and re-named Tempe Normal School in 1889).
At that time, students chose an Owl to be the school's mascot.
The mascot became the Bulldogs after the school was re-named Arizona State Teachers College in 1929 and it would be 17 years before both Sparky and the Sun Devils would come to be.
In 1945, Arizona State Teachers College became Arizona State College and, according to ASU News, university boosters became worried that the mascot didn't stand out as other colleges (such as Yale and Georgia) had also adopted the bulldog as a mascot.
Currently, more than 40 universities nationwide have the Bulldogs as their mascot.
So, after changing the name of the college, the search began for a new mascot that better represented the school and its location in the desert.
On Nov. 8, 1946, a vote was held among the student body to change the mascot to the Sun Devils. It passed 819 to 196.
12 days later, on November 20, 1946, the nickname was officially adopted, which is why Sparky's birthday is celebrated on this day.
In the late 1940s, Berk Anthony, an illustrator and Arizona State alum who worked at one time for The Walt Disney Company, designed the first Sparky logo.
It is rumored that Sparky's face is designed to look like Walt Disney himself, but ASU says they "can neither confirm nor deny that."
Sparky was originally designed to only be a logo and he did not appear as a live mascot until 1951, seven years before Arizona State College became Arizona State University after the passing of Prop 200. Since then, Sparky has been a staple at Sun Devil games and events.
The Sparky costume has undergone several changes since then. His current look was adopted in 2013 after a fan vote.
This year, mascots from GCU, the Arizona Rattlers, the Fiesta Bowl, the D-backs, Mercury and Tucson Roadrunners helped Sparky celebrate his birthday at ASU's volleyball game at Wells Fargo Arena and hockey game at Mullett Arena.
You can wish Sparky a happy birthday on X (formerly known as Twitter) and Instagram!
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to five major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks and NHL's Arizona Coyotes.
The Cardinals have made the State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers also play at the Footprint. Phoenix has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events on a yearly basis, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the Waste Management Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall; and Cactus League Spring Training.
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