Stanford University actually does have an official athletic color identity (the Cardinal) and an iconic, highly unconventional unofficial mascot known as the Stanford Tree. When the university dropped its historical Indian mascot moniker in the early nineteen seventies following sensitivity concerns, the student body and marching band playfully rejected formal traditional animal mascots. Instead, the band organically created the whimsical, ever-changing Tree costume, which has served as a chaotic and beloved symbol ever since.