Since its founding in 1864, the University of Kansas has become a storied institution, both academically and athletically. While the football program hasn’t had a ton of success, the Jayhawks' men’s basketball program is one of the most storied programs in all of college basketball. The Jayhawks are four-time NCAA Tournament champions and six-time runner-ups, to go along with 16 final-four appearances. To go along with being one of the NCAA’s most storied. Bet on the Jayhawks and more by using Kansas sportsbooks promo codes. 

Throughout the program's history, the Jayhawks have had seven primary logos, starting in 1912 and continuing up to today’s current logo, introduced in 2006. 

The Jayhawks' first logo appeared in 1912, featuring a blue, feathered bird with a yellow beak and legs, accompanied by blue shoes with red laces. This logo was first drawn by a student at Kansas, Henry Maloy. Since then, the Jayhawk logo has undergone some minor changes, as well as several significant ones. 

Kansas Jayhawks Primary Logo 1920 - 1923

In 1920, the university made its first logo change, adopting a more traditional bird-style logo. The logo retained the yellow beak but featured the newly introduced red KU lettering perched to the forefront.

The school’s next logo change would come just three years later, when they made the switch back to a more cartoonish logo, marking the first step toward the logo we see today. A red-headed bird with a yellow beak, blue body, and red KU lettering on its body. This logo would remain unchanged for six years before its next significant update in 1929. 

The 1929 logo featured a much fiercer-looking Jayhawk, retaining many of the same characteristics as its 1923 predecessor. A redhead, with a blue body, a yellow beak, and legs with red KU lettering on its body. That logo would be the longest-lasting to date for the university, as it would remain until 1941. 

In 1941, the program introduced its fifth logo in 29 years, a combination of its 1929 logo and the logo that we see today. The Jayhawks maintained a fierce look but adopted a more detailed style, highly similar to today’s logo. Five years later, minor changes would be made to the primary logo, including the bird flipping from facing left to facing right, as well as altering the bird's expression from fierce to a happier look, with white KU lettering on its body. 

The final Kansas Jayhawks primary logo change would come in 2006, 60 years following the last logo change. Already a classic logo, the university decided not to make any drastic changes. The only notable change to the logo from its 1946 counterpart was the new font of the KU letter logo on the body of the Jayhawk itself. 

1912 - Henry Maloy drew the original Jayhawks logo, featuring a blue bird with a yellow beak and yellow legs. A dash of red was also included in the logo, with the bird’s red laces on its blue shoes. 

1920 - The 1920 logo saw a much more classic adaptation of bird logos, somewhat similar to that of the St. Louis Cardinals. This Jayhawks logo was primarily blue, with a yellow beak, and featured red KU lettering at the front of the logo. The Jayhawk is self-perched on the letter K of the logo.

1923  - The logo returned to its cartoonish style roots in 1923 and began to show a resemblance to the modern-day logo. The Jayhawk’s body remains blue, but the head of the bird was changed to red to complement a much more exaggerated beak as well. The red KU lettering from the forefront of the logo is to be placed on the center of the Jayhawks' body.

1929 - After being a much more happy looking bird, the 1929 iteration of the logo shows a much more fierce expression, perhaps battle-ready Jayhawk. Many of the features of the 1923 logo stayed the same, including the blue body, red head, and yellow beak and legs. The KU lettering also remained red and centered on the Jayhawks’ body.

1941 - The 1941 edition of the logo is the beginning of today’s logo. The right-facing Jayhawk became much more detailed, but it still retains some cartoonish features. The features of the bird itself did not change, nor did the expression upon its face. The KU lettering featured on the Jayhawk, did, how Bert change as it was now white instead of red.

1946 - The university's sixth logo underwent subtle changes shortly after the end of World War II. The expression on the Jayhawk was not much similar to the originals, a happy, welcoming expression. Notably, the logo was also flipped from facing right to facing left for those viewing the logo. 

2006 - The final and current versions of the logo featured the only noticeable change: the type font of the KU lettering on the body of the Jayhawk. It would, however, keep the white look of the lettering. The font is very similar to the one used in 1920 for the university’s second Jayhawk logo.

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