Penn State Traditions 101: Penn State's colors of blue and white have been around since 1890, but true Penn State fans know that the original colors were pink and black. George R. Meek, Class of 1890 and editor of La Vie, wrote about being one of three elected to select the colors in 1887, “We wanted something bright and attractive but we could not use red or orange as those colors were already used by other colleges so we chose a very deep pink—really cerise—which with black made a very pretty combination.” Though the brief period of pink and black existed before the invention of color photography, we can imagine the pink and black of the uniforms worn by the football team in the second photo here, from 1889. Today, you'll often see the original colors represented by Penn State athletic teams as well as in the famous S-Zone. #PennState #DearOldState #pennstateuniversity