The UP Fighting Maroons are the collegiate varsity teams of the University of the Philippines, primarily off Diliman, which play in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the premiere sports league in the country.
The Fighting Maroons moniker, though, is more commonly used to refer to the men's basketball team (see Team monikers below).
History
UAAP Founding Member
UP is one of the founding members (1938) of the UAAP. It was also a founding member and the originator of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the year 1924.
UP was a perennial contender for the overall championship in the UAAP. The team last won the UAAP Seniors (now referred to as Collegiate) Overall Championship in the 1997–1998 season, two years before the University last hosted the competitions prior to its centennial.
The UAAP has eight member-universities and holds tournaments in 14 sports (17 sports disciplines). Only four of the eight member-universities participate in all of the fifteen sports; UP is one of these four.
Team identity
Team monikers
Prior to the establishment of the NCAA in 1924, the sports press have been referring to the collegiate teams by the color of their uniforms. School varsity teams were called the Blue and Whites, the Red and Whites, the Green and Whites and in the case of UP, the Maroon and Greens. In the late 1930s, schools started to adopt mascots and the sports press would now refer to their varsity teams by the name of their mascots. Sportswriters wrote about the games played by the Blue Eagles, the Green Archers, the Red Lions in their sports articles for their news dailies. In the case of UP, the varsity team was called the UP Parrots when the school adopted the parrot as its mascot. Sometime in the 1990s, the moniker UP Parrots was changed to UP Fighting Maroons when the parrot was dropped as the team mascot. The new moniker revived the old (vintage 1920s) name Maroons, and the adjective "fighting" was added to describe the kind of spirit that the varsity teams of UP have when they participate in the arena of competitive sports.
Aside from Fighting Maroons, which is applicable for all teams, there are other official varsity team names that exist, which are sourced from the school's official student publications. They are as follows: (Note that either UP/UPIS is appended before the team names for the case of the collegiate and high school teams, respectively.)
Note, however, that such student publications are starting to use Fighting Maroons for all teams and just specify the team thus referred to in the lede or in the first mention.
Other varsity teams: Pep Squad Filipiniana Dance Troupe UP Streetdance Club
Team logo
Prior to July 2015, there is no official logo for the UP Fighting Maroons, thus the University Seal is used in uniforms of the university's student-athletes. UP System registered trademarks such as the Oblation and sometimes the university seal were used to represent the university's varsity team in UAAP broadcasts. A new logo representing the varsity team had to be designed after UP College of Human Kinetics Dean Ronnie Dizer told ABS-CBN Sports, the official broadcaster of the UAAP, that the Oblation logo is no longer allowed in UAAP coverage.
On July 20, 2015, a set of six logos were released by the University of the Philippines. The new main logo uses a clenched left fist as a primary symbol with the teams initials UMP. The logo according to the university highlights the "institution’s unique history and tradition – catalysts for change and defenders of the people.” The letter "M" is incorporated at the bottom part of the fist. The M design of the main logo is named the "M Cut". A partial version of the logo which composes only of the fist with the M Cut of the main logo may be used where the name of the team or the university is not required to be shown.
In addition, an internal, secondary, and tertiary logos were also revealed. The internal logo is in shape of the Oblation, the secondary logo is a geometric shapes arranged in a form of a fist, and the tertiary logo composes of a man and a woman raising and clenching one of their fists, named Isko & Iska. The later two logos, the secondary and tertiary are used for marketing and promotional purposes.
The proposal for the new brand identity was initiated by Mandy Reyes and Pete Jimenez of Nowhere to Go but UP, an alumni organization. The design team is composed of the following: Dan Matutina (along with Bernice de Leon-Yumul, Joanna Malinis, and Raxenne Maniquiz of Plus63 Design Co.), Kay Aranzanso, Ralph Guibani, and AJ Dimarucot.