Presumptuously Taking Ownership of Colors and Letters

I have a three name full name for a reason.  The combination of my first and last name is ridiculously popular not only in India, but even here in the U.S.  Using as much detail as possible helps to specify who I am.  My first name starts with the letter A, but so do the names of about 200 million other people.  In this internet age, one practice I've noticed is people signing their emails with just the first letter of their first name, (as if they own that letter).  I find the habit to be kind of annoying.  At least people should use their initials, or better yet, just use their given first name or their nickname.

Many institutions are also described with letters or colors, but people should take into account that when they get too general, most people in the country don't have any idea of what they're talking about.  Michigan State University is known as "State" in Michigan, and their flag is green with a big white 'S' in the middle.  That's really presumptuous considering that there are so many state colleges in the country.  I know it's meant to differentiate the school from the University of Michigan, but still.  And what is OSU?  To me, it's The Ohio State University.  But some people think it stands for Oklahoma State University.  That would be fine except that the Ohio school was formed first, (and it's bigger).  In this case, the Buckeyes should get to uniquely claim OSU amongst other colleges.  By the same logic, the University of Michigan is the real U of M, not the University of Minnesota.  (I know that that statement is going to upset some Minnesotans.)  Since I moved to Minneapolis from Michigan, it has been really hard to get used to comprehending what is meant when I hear "the U of M".  I also remember when I used to wear a yellow blue and white rugby shirt in the 90's, while I lived in the Detroit area.  Whenever I wore it, people assumed I was a University of Michigan fan.  I had to tell them that I wasn't.  I would get responses from people telling me that I should only have worn it if I was a U of M fan.  But that school doesn't "own" those colors.  I can use those colors without pronouncing my allegiance to anything.

With this being St. Patrick's Day, I'm reminded that we tend to associate green with Ireland, red with China.  The downside of this is that we're attributing characteristics to colors, ones that might have inadvertent and sometimes negative connotations.

It's all no big deal, but people need to consider others outside their world when they try to attribute certain very common things to people or institutions that they're familiar with.  When meeting people from other circles or traveling to other parts of the world, interpretations can vary drastically.  That causes confusion.  Confusion isn't good; and neither is presumptuousness.

+ Atul

Comments

[Chris]

Some are wearing Orange today, for the Irish Loyalists...

[chancelucky]

In the west, OSU is Oregon State.

the college thing is a little different because invariably it includes a "U".

[Aleksandar M. Velkoski]

Interesting post Atul. Although I agree (for the most part) that we should consider the bigger picture when developing associations of this sort, I think that we cannot get away from it. It is human nature to develop associations (with colors, letters, symbols, or whatever else it may be). From my perspective, I am THE Aleksandar M. Velkoski (AMV). Someone else out there my disagree LOL. I guess logic holds that if you are the first to claim it, and have the most influence (in comparison to others that claim a similar item), then it is yours. Let it hold that I am the first to claim being THE Aleksandar M. Velkoski (AMV), and that my influence trumps! :-)

[UH2L]

Sorry this is so late guys, I just got back from Germany.

Chris,
I didn't know about the orange Irish.

CL,
Thanks for reminding me about the other OSU. But again, Ohio State was first, and yes, the U makes overlap much more frequent. I went to RIT which reminds me that Institutes set a school apart from Universities.

THE Aleksandar M. Velkoski (TM),
You are one of a kind anyway so there won't be any confusion. As for the colors, letters, symbols, it is natural to tie an institution with a symbol so it's hard to avoid. I'm not going to call myself "A." anytime soon though.

[Aleksandar M. Velkoski]

Thanks for the recognition! HA! ;-)

[jeremy>]

i love st.pattys day