When Notre Dame announced that it was changing its football leprechaun logo for the first time in more than 60 years, I was surprised by how strongly I reacted. As an international student, unlike many of my peers, I did not grow up watching college football or tracing the program’s traditions. The leprechaun, for me, was not something inherited through childhood memories of Saturday games. And yet when I saw the redesigned logo- sleeker, more modern, the leprechaun now sprinting forward with a football – I felt struck. I realized how quickly a symbol can weave itself into your sense of belonging, even if you enter from the outside.
The old logo showed a leprechaun in a fighting stance, fists raised, defiant and stubborn. The new version depicts him midstride, charging downfield. To some, this shift might seem cosmetic. But I believe for Notre Dame students, alumni and fans, the logo is not simply an image. It is a piece of collective identity. In the dining hall, on sweatshirts or emblazoned across helmets, the leprechaun represents a community and a story. Even for someone like me, who does not have decades of family tradition tied to Notre Dame football, it carries a weight that is difficult to ignore, to my surprise.
Growing up playing competitive golf, I once again reflect on the power of sports. It is extremely difficult for me to think of any other arenas that can take a logo and turn it into a vessel for such intense, complicated emotion. In elementary school, when I first came to the states to compete in state and national tournaments, though not at all fluent in English, I was able to make friends on the golf course. Golf has also become a bridge between me and my family, creating so many cherishable memories that would not have been possible without it. Sports bind people across generations.
Moving from the personal to the broader perspective, sports give communities common rituals, language and heroes. Participating in tailgates and celebrating a Notre Dame win have brought me friendships, memories and a newfound identity. When Notre Dame changes its football logo, it feels like more than a marketing decision; it feels like a rewriting of memory. For alumni, the old logo may carry the echo of Lou Holtz’s championship years or a first game with their parents. For students like me, it marks a signal that we belong to something larger than ourselves.
That is why sports are so politically and culturally powerful. They create shared myths and symbols that are as potent as national flags or anthems. A touchdown in Notre Dame Stadium may not seem political, but the feelings it generates – pride, unity, defiance – are the same emotions nations rely on to bind citizens together.
As an international student, I sometimes view American football from the outside, trying to understand its rituals and language. But I cannot deny its ability to arouse emotions that transcend knowledge of the game. When the band plays, when the crowd celebrates, when the logo flashes across the screen, you feel pulled into something collective. That feeling of being absorbed into a larger story may be the deepest power of sports. And it explains why even a logo can matter so much.
This is why sports, and especially college sports, are uniquely powerful. They bridge the gap between personal and collective identity. They transform a logo into a memory and a memory into a tradition. And when that tradition shifts, even slightly, it reverberates across the community.
Of course, I see the other side. Universities must evolve. The world of college athletics is changing with conference realignment, NIL deals and relentless media scrutiny. Branding matters in recruiting and projecting an image of energy and modernity. The new leprechaun looks faster, bolder, more aligned with the dynamism Notre Dame wants to display.
In the end, I do not know if the new leprechaun will come to feel natural, or if I will always instinctively prefer the old one. What I do know is that this moment has taught me something about the politics of symbols. They matter not because of their design, but because of the emotions and stories we invest in them. And while the logo may change, I am hopeful that the memories it carries will endure, never washed away by a new design.