Will UWF Nix Nautilus Logo?

University of West Florida students, faculty and alumni may notice changes as they drive onto campus next fall. There are plans to remove the nautilus and replace it with President Manny Diaz’s logo.

• As we reported in February, Diaz had a Tallahassee firm design several new logos for the university and polled the UWF community for their thoughts.

The UWF Athletic Department also has new logos that used by the Alumni Relations, Office of the President and University Marketing & Communications:

The Sword & Shield Mark is reserved for use by UWF’s Division of University Advancement and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics (including the Sword & Shield Council) for fundraising materials only. The Shield Mark is to enhance and strengthen the connection between current students and alumni. This mark has been designated for use by the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, Alumni Relations, the Student Alumni Association and Student Ambassadors. The President’s Helmet and Sword Marks bolsters the brand and reputation of our athletics programs, as well as create a stronger connection with our institutional brand, the President’s Helmet and Sword marks have been created for use by the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, the Office of the President and University Marketing and Communications for internal branding initiatives.

History of the Nautilus

• From the outset, the symbol was consciously literary and aspirational: a visual shorthand for intellectual development and “more stately mansions” of learning rather than a generic Gulf?coast seashell

The Chambered Nautilus

By Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

This is the ship of pearl, which poets feign,

Sails the unshadowed main,—

The venturous bark that flings

On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings

In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings,

And coral reefs lie bare,

Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming hair.

Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl;

Wrecked is the ship of pearl!

And every chambered cell,

Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell,

As the frail tenant shaped his growing shell,

Before thee lies revealed,—

Its irised ceiling rent, its sunless crypt unsealed!

Year after year beheld the silent toil

That spread his lustrous coil;

Still, as the spiral grew,

He left the past year’s dwelling for the new,

Stole with soft step its shining archway through,

Built up its idle door,

Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no more.

Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee,

Child of the wandering sea,

Cast from her lap, forlorn!

From thy dead lips a clearer note is born

Than ever Triton blew from wreathèd horn!

While on mine ear it rings,

Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that sings:—

Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,

As the swift seasons roll!

Leave thy low-vaulted past!

Let each new temple, nobler than the last,

Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,

Till thou at length art free,

Leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s unresting sea!

Over six decades, the nautilus shell moved from being a seal?style emblem on stationery and diplomas to a ubiquitous graphic on signage, architecture, apparel, web, and marketing materials.

UWF’s brand office now describes the Nautilus Shell as “the institution’s official emblem” and “an icon that represents the history and soul of our rich and storied past and a future brimming with possibility and potential.”

• From the UWF tradition page: “The modernized iteration of the Evolving Nautilus Shell stands as a symbol of evolution and the power each of us has to make an impact on campus, in the community and around the world. Its likeness is ingrained in UWF architecture, signage and branding for the University.”

Will they change under Manny Diaz? Stay tuned.