How to Change a School Mascot

Changing a school mascot is a board decision, a community conversation, and then a design job. The new name still has to work on a jersey, a gym floor, and the website. This page is the order of work. Prices are the starting prices on the pricing page. The law section is a summary of two public statutes. It is not legal advice. Read the statute, and have the district’s counsel read it, before the board votes.

Name who decides

In a public school, the board is the body that can adopt a new name. A committee can do the listening and bring back a short list. Put the athletic director, a principal, a teacher, a student, and a parent on it, and say in writing who makes the final vote. A committee that thinks it is deciding, while the board thinks it is only advising, is how the process stalls.

If a state law is the reason for the change, put that statute in the committee’s packet at the first meeting. California and Minnesota are covered below. Other states have their own rules. The list we keep, with a link to each one, is on the school mascot statistics page.

Ask the community

Ask students, families, staff, and alumni two things: what the current name means to them, and what they need the next one to do. A short survey and one public meeting are enough to hear the range. The board still votes. A survey is input, not an election.

Keep the question on the name and the mark. Do not use the meeting to float extra props, a second outfit, or a new costume. Those are separate purchases.

Choose the name

Cut the ideas to a short list before anyone draws. Three checks matter:

• The name can be drawn as a simple shape. A bird with a clear beak is easier to embroider than a scene.
• A nearby school is not already using it. The mascot statistics page lists which animals are already the most common.
• If a state law prompted the change, the new name is one the statute allows. Do this before the vote, not after the uniforms are ordered.

A longer note on picking the character is in how to choose a school mascot. A redesign of a name you are keeping is a different job, and the redesign checklist is the one to use for that.

Design the mark

A name is not a logo. The mark has to read on a helmet, a sleeve, a scoreboard, and a phone. Our mascot logo design packages are the published floors:

Package	Starting price	Time	What you get
Essentials	$1,500	2 to 4 weeks	A primary mascot logo, two initial concepts, one revision round, and PNG, SVG, and PDF files
Complete	From $2,500	3 to 5 weeks	Mascot, wordmark, and secondary mark, full-color and one-color versions, and sports marks
Championship	From $4,500	4 to 6 weeks	A full athletic identity, uniform and spirit-wear lockups, and brand guidelines

Essentials is paid in full to begin. Complete and Championship are 50 percent to begin and 50 percent when you choose a direction. The design process page walks through the steps after you hire a designer. The complete mascot guide covers what the mark has to do once it exists.

If the school also needs a new identity across academics and signage, that is a rebrand. A single-school identity starts at $4,500. A complete rebrand starts at $8,500. Those figures, and what they leave out, are in the school branding cost guide.

Set the rollout

Pick one date and tell people before it arrives. On that date, change the website, the letterhead, and the social accounts together. A new mark on the gym wall and the old mark on the homepage reads as unfinished.

Tell coaches and booster clubs which file to use. One primary file, one one-color file, and a short usage note stop the first week of homemade versions.

Plan uniforms and signs

The design fee does not buy new uniforms, a gym floor, a marquee, or a scoreboard. Those are a second budget. Reported costs from named districts are collected on the school mascot statistics page. Use that page for the range other schools have published. Do not treat any one of those figures as your quote.

Where a state law sets the order of replacement, follow the statute. California’s rule on old uniforms and new fixtures is below.

A costume of the new mascot is its own project. The pricing page lists a Simple costume from $3,995 and a Premium costume from $5,500, with shipping quoted separately. The build is 8 to 12 weeks from design approval. If the mascot has to be designed from scratch as part of that build, the same page starts Simple at $3,750 and Premium at $5,250. Details are on the mascot costume page.

Set the budget

Split the budget into three lines so the board can see them separately.

1. The design. A primary logo starts at $1,500. A full athletic identity starts at $4,500. A district program for several campuses starts at $22,000 and is scoped to the number of schools.
2. The physical change. Uniforms, signs, floors, and vehicles. Not included in the design packages.
3. A costume, if you want one. From $3,995 or from $5,500 on the pricing page, plus shipping.

Payment is by card or bank transfer. Purchase orders are welcome as paperwork. We do not accept checks. The schedules are on the pricing page.

What California requires

Education Code section 221.3, the California Racial Mascots Act, was amended by AB 3074 (Stats. 2024, Ch. 665). The governor approved the bill on September 27, 2024. The code note says the amendment took effect January 1, 2025. The broader prohibition starts later.

The statute says “derogatory Native American term” includes, but is not limited to, Apaches, Big Reds, Braves, Chiefs, Chieftains, Chippewa, Comanches, Indians, Savages, Squaw, and Tribe. Because the list is not closed, a name that is not on it can still be covered. That is a question for the district’s counsel, not for a design firm.

Two dates in the statute do different jobs:

• Public schools are already prohibited from using the term Redskins as a school or athletic team name, mascot, or nickname. A school operated by an Indian tribe or a tribal organization is excepted.
• Commencing July 1, 2026, the same schools are prohibited from using any derogatory Native American term for those purposes.

A school may keep using uniforms or other materials bought before July 1, 2026 that carry a covered term, but only if it has selected a new name, mascot, or nickname, and only if it meets the rest of section 221.3(c). In short, the school does not buy new uniforms that carry the term. Before January 1, 2028, it may replace damaged or lost uniforms up to 20 percent of the number that team or band used in the 2025-26 school year. It does not buy yearbooks, newspapers, programs, or similar items that carry the prohibited name in the logo or on the cover. It does not buy or build a new marquee, sign, gymnasium floor, or other fixture that carries it. Where a facility already carries it, the school removes it the next time that part of the facility is replaced in the normal course of maintenance.

Section 221.3(d) states the Legislature’s intent: schools should buy or replace materials when they would have needed to anyway, and that this happen before the 2028-29 school year. That subsection is intent, not a second deadline written as a mandate. Read it next to subsection (c).

Section 221.3(e) says the section does not apply to a public school that receives written consent from a local federally recognized tribe to use a covered term. The section also does not apply to campuses of the California Community Colleges, the California State University, or the University of California.

What Minnesota requires

Minnesota Statutes section 121A.041 says that starting September 1, 2026, a public school may not have or adopt a name, symbol, or image that depicts or refers to an American Indian Tribe, individual, custom, or tradition as a mascot, nickname, logo, letterhead, or team name of the school or district, unless the school has an exemption.

The prohibition does not apply to a public school located within the reservation of a federally recognized Tribal Nation in Minnesota, where at least 95 percent of students meet the state definition of American Indian student.

A school may seek an exemption by requesting a letter of consent from the federally recognized Tribal Nation in Minnesota located nearest to the school, and a letter of consent from the school’s American Indian Parent Advisory Committee. If the school has no such committee, the statute says it may seek the letter from the Tribal Nation only. A school whose request is denied must comply with the prohibition.

A district that still has a prohibited mascot and has not received an exemption had to report its progress to the Legislature by February 14, 2025, and again by February 1, 2026. The statute lists what those reports cover: removal from the district website, board approval of a new name, progress on uniforms, equipment, signs, and facilities, and the resources the district needs.

Questions schools ask

How do you change a school mascot?

Name who can decide. Ask the community what the next name has to do. Narrow the list, then design a mark that works small and large. Set one date for the change. Budget uniforms and signs apart from the design fee.

When did California’s school mascot law take effect?

The prohibition on a derogatory Native American term commenced July 1, 2026, under Education Code section 221.3. The term Redskins was already prohibited. A tribal-operated school is excepted, and written consent from a local federally recognized tribe is a separate exception. Old uniforms can be used only on the conditions in section 221.3(c).

When did Minnesota’s school mascot law take effect?

The prohibition in section 121A.041 started September 1, 2026. An exemption requires consent from the nearest federally recognized Tribal Nation in Minnesota, and from the school’s American Indian Parent Advisory Committee when the school has one.

How much does a new school mascot logo cost?

A primary mascot logo is $1,500 and takes 2 to 4 weeks. A fuller mark system starts at $2,500. A full athletic identity starts at $4,500. Uniforms and signs are not in those prices. Current packages are on the pricing page.

If you already know the name and you want a figure for the mark, write to us with the school, the name, and the date you are working toward.