Symbolism

Yale-NUS produced a variety of visual signs and symbols to represent itself both to the outside world and to itself. These included images, texts, designs and colours that reflected and embodied the College’s values, ideas and aspirations.

It was particularly important for a young academic institution like Yale-NUS to establish a set of consistent and impactful visual representations to help create a sense of community and identity.

Much of the initial inspiration came from the College community itself, with students, faculty and staff involved in originating and developing ideas. Students were also regularly involved in implementing the ideas, using their artistic and design skills to bring the symbols to life.

Official College Colours and Wordmark

The College’s official colour scheme was orange (#F89829) and blue (#004B8D). These colours were used on many of the College’s symbols to create a consistent and instantly recognisable visual identity.

The colours were used in the College’s wordmark to create a clear, timeless visual representation of the College’s distinct identity. The wordmark also combined and adapted the identities of the College’s parent institutions,Yale University and the National University of Singapore.

Halcyon

Perhaps the most well-known and beloved symbol of Yale-NUS was the College’s official mascot, the blue-eared kingfisher Halcyon (pronounced: hal-see-uhn).

As a species known to occasionally nest in Singapore but generally uncommon in Asia, the blue-eared kingfisher neatly represented both the College’s location and rarity in the region. Its vibrant orange and blue plumage also matched the College’s official colour scheme.

The name Halcyon originally came from a bird in Greek mythology that could calm the ocean’s waves and winds. The modern meaning of an idyllically happy and peaceful time was also deemed appropriate. Halcyon was an embodiment of the College, encompassing some of the ideals that resonated at the heart of Yale-NUS College: youthfulness, creativity, curiosity and an adventurous spirit—ready to take on the world.

The process of selecting the College’s mascot was very community-driven. First initiated by students in 2015, it was subsequently led by the Student Government (StuGov).

StuGov organised a survey, asked students, faculty and staff to nominate and vote on potential mascots and organised a debate to select the mascot’s species (the other options were whale and clouded leopard).

Having a mascot creates a concrete sense of community and identity that had not been established at Yale-NUS. Mascots are very prominent at our parent institutions [Yale and NUS], so I think many students felt it was a great way to further establish our identity.

Sara Rotenberg (Class of 2019), Director of Student Life, Student Government

StuGov also arranged for the student body to vote to ratify the eventual selection and established focus groups to gather feedback on the design and name.

Halcyon was official unveiled in February 2017, in time for the inaugural graduation later that year.

For very special occasions Halcyon would make a personal appearance on campus.

A stylised Halcyon in flight was the cover star of this anthology of student reflections from the Class of 2021’s Orientation trips to Kuching, Surabaya and Yogyakarta.

Halcyon’s passport from Open Day 2019.

Kingfisher imagery was also used to illustrate the College’s values and commitments.

Halcyon featured on a variety of metal pins over the years, striking a series of different poses. Whether flapping his wings or flying a kite, he always did his best to represent the College.

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The Yale-NUS
Institutional Flag

The Yale-NUS Institutional flag was first waved in support of the College’s sports teams during the 2018 Inter-College Games.

The flag was in the College’s orange and blue colour scheme, and featured the Yale-NUS wordmark and a depiction of Halcyon in flight.

The design process was coordinated by the Dean of Students office and Public Affairs department, working alongside the Student Government, while small focus groups provided input from the student community.

The Yale-NUS Tree

The first Yale-NUS Tree featured 24 leaf-shaped flags representing the nationalities of the students in the College’s inaugural class. The tree stood as a visual representation of the diverse and international student body at the College.

Design by Mireille Sibilio, Brenda Greene and Kristin Greene.

This second design was created for the 2014 First Year Assembly, and now featured 40 flags to represent the nationalities of the second cohort, the Class of 2018.

Martin Vasev (Class of 2018) from Bulgaria points to his country’s flag on the Yale-NUS tree.

Swag

Specially-designed swag items were often given away during events at the College. These could be t-shirts, bags, water bottles or other useful items decorated with text, logos or images to mark the occasion. Some clothing designs were also available to purchase from the student-run Yale-NUS Bookstore or the College’s official online merchandise shop.

Student Designs

Many of the College’s collaterals were designed by the students themselves, which showed their artistic talent but also demonstrated how much input students had in shaping the College’s identity.

Designed by Natalie Tan (Class of 2017) to showcase the College’s diversity, this scarf and tie were both based on an East-meets-West concept. The scarf featured an Asian floral pattern held within borders in the College’s orange and blue colours.

The tie’s geometric pattern symbolised the intertwining of East and West, and the strength and unity of many parts working as a whole.

Natalie also designed greetings cards and the sash worn as part of the College’s academic dress at graduation.

Graduation

Graduation was the most formal ceremony in the College’s calendar, with all graduating students taking the stage to receive their degrees while wearing the Yale-NUS academic dress.

The academic dress consisted of a base gown, hood, sash and mortarboard. Different elements represented the College’s parent institutions, with the orange colour of the sash representing Yale and the blue and white trim on the sash and hood representing NUS.
The sash was designed by Natalie Tan (Class of 2017) and featured a batik-inspired print incorporating the Halcyon kingfisher.

The College’s Ceremonial Mace was also part of the Graduation ceremony, with a member of faculty carrying it at the head of the faculty procession into the auditorium.

Reflecting the Yale-NUS curriculum, the mace incorporated both Western and Asian elements.

At the pinnacle of the mace was a bronze representation of the College’s Halcyon mascot, symbolising a young institution’s confident ascension and constant striving for excellence.

Halcyon was perched on the mace’s pommel which was constructed from Elm wood, representing Yale University’s home in New Haven, popularly known as the Elm City.

The Yale-NUS College wordmark was embodied in metal and attached to the mace’s pommel. The metalwork was inspired by the keris, a Southeast Asian dagger featuring intricate patterns on its asymmetrical blade.

At the top of the shaft was a metal seal decorated with floral motifs inspired by Asian batik and wood carving traditions. The intricate piece of metalwork was modelled on the traditional Southeast Asian craft of metal beating.

The three sections of the mace’s shaft were stained in different colours to represent the three tree species that the Residential Colleges were named after: Saga, Elm and Cendana.

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In 2021, regular mid-semester performances were introduced to showcase new and experimental games in a more informal setting.

Artprov was a jam session/mid-semester show hosted in collaboration with the Yale-NUS Visual Arts Society (VAS). The troupe adapted popular games to incorporate art, getting audience members to make sketches and drawings that served as scene prompts.Improv Midterms was the first of the new series of mid-semester shows.

February 2022’s mid-semester show was Dogprov/Catprov, where the troupe experimented with new games. During publicity for the show, the troupe got the college to reflect on the important question: dogs or cats?

Artprov: Renaissance was the second jam session/mid-semester show hosted in collaboration with VAS.

Simprov was a Valentine’s Day-themed mid-semester show where the troupe experimented with yet more new games.