U of A Traditions and Hallmarks
Ring out a cheer for our Alberta
A song of praise to Varsity.
For the splendour of our mountains
Our prairies green and gold.
Ranked beneath whose glowing colours,
Thy legions march enrolled.
Our memories will live forever
Beloved University.
We will fight for thee and cheer
And ever hold thine honour dear.
Our Alma Mater U of A
Green and gold! Quaecumque Vera!
Guide us through each coming era,
Guide us on through battle gory
To a new and greater glory.
University of Alberta hallmarks and traditions promote the University’s identity. The Senate proudly maintains and promotes the Cheer Song, Coat of Arms, Colours, Flag, Grace, Mace, Motto, Senate Chambers, and the University Chair.
The Coat of Arms is used by the Chancellor at ceremonial occasions, and bears the University Motto Quaecumque vera—"whatsoever things are true" (the Epistle of St Paul to the Philippians, 4:8).
The University Flag has a gold background and bears the shield of the Coat of Arms. The University Senate Chamber is located in the Arts Building, and has been preserved as it was built in 1915, with its distinctive oval shape, hardwood floors, and original oak wainscoting.
The University Colours were chosen in 1908 when William Hardy Alexander, the Professor of Classics, described his wife Marion Kirby Alexander’s idea of choosing the autumn colours of green and gold, which, every year, are resplendent in the river valley below the University. The Colours have additional meanings: green represents prairie and deep spruce forests, symbolic of hope and optimism, and gold represents golden harvest fields and is symbolic of the light of knowledge.
The full Coat of Arms is displayed at ceremonial occasions such as Convocation and is used by the Chancellor, the titular head of the University.
The Chancellor’s Chair was donated in 1922 by the graduating class. Along with the President’s Chair, the Chair of the Board of Governors, and an oak stand for the Mace, (donated in 1987 by family and friends of Dr Charles Malcolm Macleod, Chair of the Board of Governors from 1950–1956), it serves as a memorial gift used during Convocation. The Chairs are made of solid oak carved with the University Motto and Emblems.