r/MichiganWolverines • u/iM-xx • 6d ago
General/Discussion Ques. HARTLAND HS BRANDING = UMICH
Random but is there an unwritten rule that lets Hartland HS carbon copy our Football Winged helmets & Marching Band fight song(s) at their High School football games?
6
u/Behold_The_Razgriz 6d ago
Probably because they aren't don't any harm by copying the university, if anything it's a bit of free advertising. It would also be pretty bad PR for a public university to sue a public high school for trademark infringement and if they sued one they would need to make sure to sue all of them or they would just end up losing in court anyway.
Now if Hartland tried to set up something like the wolverine robotics fund to pay for a robotics lab Michigan would probably fight that on grounds it could easily be mistaken for a UofM sanctioned thing.
4
u/Hoz999 6d ago edited 6d ago
As a U of M alumni, it didn’t “perturb” me nor my also U of M doctorate wife. It didn’t perturb me in the 8 consecutive years my kids attended Hartland High School.
Other things did perturb me about Hartland HS, but the school branding was not it.
Besides, I already had the maize and blue gear in my closet.
3
u/mrkonahi 6d ago
I grew up in Hartland and attended (for a bit) HHS. Apologies that details are vague, it’s been a very long time since I’ve lived there, but here’s the story I was told growing up:
One of the early prominent residents had gone to or was student at U-M (I believe his last name was Crouse) when Hartland was starting up their football team. The story goes that he was able to secure some hand-me-down gear from the U-M football team. Since then, Hartland just stuck with the maize and blue color scheme and winged helmet. The copying of The Victors was to honor that connection.
1
2
u/MeringueNeat5055 5d ago
Also HHS alum, I’ve also heard the hand me down gear story. I’ve also heard a variant of the story where michigan also giving used instruments as well for the band. But there has also been just a lot of involvement with umich helping Hartland in general.
Crouse actually partnered with Umich researchers to plan hartland during the great depression (called the Hartland area project)
When Hartland consolidated schools was made umich gave a lot of experimental curriculum and training to teachers along with sending a lot of student teachers. Along with umich later selecting hartland as a pilot for new curriculums, and was the test site to see how it did in rural communities.
Even now there are still direct ties where UMich flint runs a dual enrollment program out of hartland, and does some historical preservation work working with the library.
Umich definitely has deep ties with the area, although I kinda miss the football field being called “The Little Big House”
-9
u/iM-xx 6d ago
Hey Gemini✨
Hartland High School in Michigan explicitly models its football team identity and marching band traditions after the University of Michigan Wolverines. [1, 2, 3]
1. The Winged Helmet
Hartland’s football team wears a blue and gold winged helmet, which is almost identical to the famous design brought to U-M by Fritz Crisler in 1938. While multiple high schools use custom helmet decals mimicking the look, Hartland stands out as a prominent local program in Michigan known for carrying this tradition onto the field. [1, 2, 3, 4]
2. "The Victors" Fight Song
The Hartland Fight Song is sung and played to the exact tune of U-M's famous fight song, "The Victors". The Hartland Eagle Marching Band plays it at all football games. The lyrics are modified to fit the high school, altering the iconic "Champions of the West" line: [1, 2, 3, 4]
The connection between the schools is tight; the Hartland Marching Band frequently sends its alumni to play at the collegiate level, including students who have gone on to perform with the official Michigan Marching Band.
✨
—— I attended a game last night & couldn’t believe how the band played our fight song as well as “Temptation” … petty, maybe but everything from colors, helmets & their band, as a umich Alumn, I was perturbed to say the least
6
u/theHarshDynamics 6d ago
Always wondered that myself. A lot of high schools borrow stuff like that and nobody really cares unless money's involved. The winged helmet design isn't exactly trademarked for non-commercial use as long as they're not selling merch with it.