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# Northwestern University (U.S.)

## Evanston, Indiana and Chicago, Illinois

Last modified: 2026-05-16 by rick wyatt
Keywords: evanston | northwestern university | indiana | university | united states |
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image located by Ivan Sache, 6 April 2017
Source: www.qf.org.qa

- Northwestern University
- University flag
- Academic flag
- Institutional flags
- Seal
- Logo
- Supporters flags

See also:

- Fraternities Main Page
- Colleges and Universities (index)
- Illinois
- United States of America

## Northwestern University

Northwestern University (NU) is home to a dozen colleges and schools across three campuses, located in Evanston, Chicago and Doha, Qatar:
- Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences (1851)
- School of Communication (1878)
- School of Education & Social Policy (1926)
- McCormick School of Engineering & Applied Science (1909)
- Graduate School (1910)
- Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications (1921)
- Pritzker School of Law (1859)
- Kellogg School of Management (1908)
- Feinberg School of Medicine (1859)
- Bienen School of Music (1895)
- School of Professional Studies (1933)
- Northwestern University in Qatar (2008).
NU is home to more than 90 school-based centers and nearly 50 University research centers.
Sir J. Fraser Stoddart (b. 1942), Board of Trustees Professor of Chemistry and director of the Center for the Chemistry of Integrated Systems at NU, was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his development of a "rotaxane" a tiny molecular machine that can perform a task when energy is added. In his long career, Stoddart has also designed nanovalves small enough to cross cell membranes; these are now being adapted to deliver drugs to treat cancer and other diseases.
The NU alumni list includes Saul Bellow (1915-2005; '37), writer and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (1976) and Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1976); Stephen Colbert (b. 1964; '86), Emmy Award-winning television host and comedian; Rahm Emmanuel (b. 1959; '85), Mayor of Chicago since 2011 and former White House Chief of Staff (2009-2010); Julia Louis-Dreyfus (b. 1961; '83), Emmy award-winning actress and comedian; George R.R. Martin (b. 1948; '70), writer of short stories and novels including the Game of Thrones fantasy series; Charles Mayo (1898-1968; '88), surgeon and founder of the Mayo Clinic, the first group practice with medical specializations; and John Paul Stevens (b. 1920; '47), Former justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1975-2010).
www.northwestern.edu/ - NU website Ivan Sache, 6 April 2017

## University flag

Northwestern University uses, at least at its Doha campus (Northwestern University in Qatar, NU-Q), a purple flag charged with the University's formal lockup.
Photo
www.qf.org.qa
Northwestern Purple is defined as follows:
Uncoated Stock CMYK: 84, 100, 0, 0
Uncoated Stock Pantone: Dark Blue 35.5, Rhodamine 36.5, Black 3, TRANS. WT. 25
Coated Stock CMYK: 85, 100, 0, 15
Coated Stock Pantone: Process Blue 37, Rubine Red 61, Black 2
RGB: 078, 042, 132
www.northwestern.edu
The flag appears to be used at the same campus also with a blue background
Photos:
www.qatar.northwestern.edu/news/articles/2015/09-usnews-best-colleges.html
www.qatar.northwestern.edu/news/articles/2015/09-convocation-new-year.html
The formal lockup is made of the woodmark "Northwestern / University", paired either horizontally or vertically with the official University seal. The vertical pairing is used on the flag, with the woodmark in Capital letters (probably reflecting an earlier visual identity, still used at the Doha campus).
www.northwestern.edu/brand/brand-assets
On June 26, 1856, only six years after Northwestern was founded and as its first year of holding classes had just come to a close, the University’s Board of Trustees adopted a design for a corporate seal that would be affixed to official University documents. This first seal closely resembled an incomplete version of the present one; it consisted of "an open book with rays of light surrounding," enclosed by the words "Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois." This motif, similar to the University of Wisconsin’s well-known logo Numen Lumen (new light), quite obviously suggested the illuminating influence of the impartation of knowledge.
In this form the seal remained in use for the next 34 years until 1890. On June 17 of that year, the Board of Trustees adopted as the official University motto the Latin phrase, "Quaecumque Sunt Vera" or in English "Whatsoever Things Are True," which was derived from the New Testament Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians, Chapter 4, Verse 8, in which Paul admonished his Christian followers in the Greek (Macedonian) city of Philippi: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
Following the board’s adoption of the key words of Paul’s summary of the exemplary ethical and moral values as the University’s guiding motto, Daniel Bonbright, professor of Latin since 1856 who had also served as acting president, was assigned by the board to infuse the official seal with a more meaningful content by incorporating the motto in its design. Bonbright also decided to inscribe in Greek upon the pages of the seal’s open book the words "ho logos pleres charitos kai aletheias" ("The Word . . .full of grace and truth") from the Gospel of St. John, Chapter 1, Verse 14: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, and the glory was of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." In addition, Bonbright removed the words "Evanston, Illinois" from the seal and added the date 1851, which denoted the year that Northwestern received its charter from the Illinois legislature. Bonbright’s revised design was approved by the board on December 5, 1890, and became effective on New Year’s Day of 1891."
Patrick Quinn: The Northwestern University seal . . ."It sure looks like Greek to me". Northwestern Memo, No. 4, March 1980
www.library.northwestern.edu/archives/university_seal.pdf
Ivan Sache, 6 April 2017

Official flag is seal and university name on a purple field: https://www.marhaba.qa/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/NU-Q.jpg
Logo: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/95/2d/df/952ddfb87ffbc3c087481e89d1db0150.jpg
There is also a wordmark only flag: https://www.northwestern.edu/brand/images/wordmark/wordmark-horz2.gif
Branding: https://www.northwestern.edu/brand/visual-identity/color/index.html
Dave Fowler, 22 March 2020

## Institutional flags

image located by Paul Bassinson, 5 September 2024
Source: https://m.media-amazon.com

image located by Paul Bassinson, 5 September 2024
Source: https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com

image located by Paul Bassinson, 5 September 2024
Source: https://m.media-amazon.com

## Academic flag

image located by Paul Bassinson, 5 September 2024
Source: https://st3.depositphotos.com

## Seal

image located by Paul Bassinson, 1 October 2017
Source: sps.northwestern.edu

## Logo

image located by Paul Bassinson, 7 July 2022
Source: https://www.northwestern.edu/brand/images/nu-horizontal.jpg

## Supporters flags

image located by Paul Bassinson, 7 March 2020
Source

image located by Paul Bassinson, 5 September 2024
Source: https://m.media-amazon.com

image located by Paul Bassinson, 5 September 2024
Source: https://campusgearonline.com

image located by Paul Bassinson, 5 September 2024
Source: https://campusgearonline.com

image located by Paul Bassinson, 5 September 2024
Source: https://m.media-amazon.com/

image located by Paul Bassinson, 5 September 2024
Source: https://w0.peakpx.com

### Sporting flags

image located by Paul Bassinson, 5 September 2024
Source: https://m.media-amazon.com

image located by Paul Bassinson, 5 September 2024
Source: https://www.atozflags.com

image located by Paul Bassinson, 5 September 2024
Source: https://m.media-amazon.com