When I was a freshman at the UW in the late ’80s, the most prevalent university logos adorning T-shirts and other items were Bucky Badger with a block “W” in the background and the “Numen Lumen” seal. By the time I was a senior, Barry Alvarez arrived on campus and the Motion W became popular. Today, the old fashioned W design from the Field House seems to be everywhere. How many official logos has the university had since its founding and who decides what they will be?

There have been three official UW logos: the early Numen Lumen seal, the wordmark logo and the current logo, the W crest.

In a letter dated Feb. 11, 1854, UW Chancellor J.H. Lathrop translated Numen Lumen as “God our light” when he proposed the alleged Latin phrase for the university seal; however, over the years, a number of scholars have challenged that interpretation.

The UW-Madison wordmark was requested by Chancellor Donna Shalala in 1990, and after a relatively short life, it was replaced in 2001 by the W crest and wordmark, with approval from Chancellor John Wiley MS’65, PhD’68. The latest logo is meant to capture both long-standing traditions and the spirit of the campus. It incorporates a familiar architectural detail — a crest emblazoned with a "W," created in 1929 by an unknown architect or designer for use on the Field House — paired with the words "The University of Wisconsin-Madison," along with the UW’s official colors and a specific typeface.

In addition to the official UW logo, the Athletic Department has a series of its own recognizable images, including Bucky Badger and the Motion W.