The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Traditions: Hook 'em, Horns hand signal
Texas' world-renowned Hook 'em Horns sign, created by head cheerleader Harley Clark in 1955, was voted the nation's top hand signal by Sports Illustrated.
Even the iPhone recognizes The University of Texas and its regaled “Hook ‘em Horns” hand sign.
Imagined by head yell leader Harley Clark in 1955, the hand sign was adopted as The University’s official hand sign and remains as one of the most recognizable marks of school pride around the world.
As the Texas Football team was preparing to play Southwest Conference rival TCU in November 1955, Clark and a campus friend declared that the hand sign, featuring extended index and pinky fingers, looked a bit like a longhorn. Rivals such as Texas A&M and TCU had hand signs, so why not the Longhorns?
When the campus community gathered on Friday for a pep rally at Gregory Gym to generate excitement for the looming contest with the Horned Frogs, Clark demonstrated the hand sign and declared, "This is the official hand sign of The University of Texas, to be used whenever and wherever Longhorns gather."
During the football game on Saturday, the students practiced what they had learned the night before, and alumni were quick to follow. By the end of the game, the stadium was full of "Hook 'em Horns" hand signs.
Fifty years later, on a Friday before a home Texas football game, the 1955 cheerleaders reunited on campus with a special rally in Gregory Gym, where they reenacted the start of a tradition. In honor of the hand sign’s anniversary, the Tower was lit orange with a "50" in the windows.
Read more about the Hook 'em, Horns hand signal on the Texas Exes website.
