A New Chapter for Concordia University Irvine

Message from the President
New Branding
New Campaign
Brand and Marketing Resources

As Concordia University Irvine nears our 50th anniversary, our institution has embarked on a university-wide rebranding effort. This is an important step for our institution to take in order for our presence and position in higher education to reflect the distinctive, high-quality Lutheran Christian education we offer to students in Irvine, across the country, and around the world.

We’re introducing our rebrand through a new marketing campaign featuring members of our Concordia community. Within this campaign, you’ll see a color palette of green and gold that unites our university and athletic brands, along with a fresh new logo. Our official university seal and fierce, feathered mascot have been updated as well.

The rebrand and culminating creative campaign could not have been possible without our students, alumni, faculty, and staff — as well as our Board of Regents, Board of Trustees, and members of our Irvine and local communities — who contributed their time and efforts to this project. Thank you for your vision and invaluable insights!

We hope you love our new look and are excited for what’s to come in the next 50 years at Concordia University Irvine.

A Message from President Thomas

Concordia University Irvine has just revealed our new university brand, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the results! Starting with extensive market research, engaging focus groups of diverse stakeholders, and working with an exceptional marketing and brand partner, Concordia is prepared to celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2026.

This rebrand is an important step in Concordia University Irvine’s history. As we’ve matured into a comprehensive university that provides an exceptional education that prepares each of our students for all of life’s vocations, it became clear that we needed to tell this story more clearly, more boldly, and more widely!

While we honor the past, we look with anticipation toward the future. The specific elements of the new brand—new logo, academic seal, athletic mascot, and the new Freedom to Explore campaign—highlight and enhance our commitment to providing an outstanding Christian education in southern California and beyond. The academic imagery is distinguished and classical and recalls the iconic worship space on campus and our Lutheran heritage and Christian commitment. The athletic marks, in contrast, are bold, forward, and confident. Both trajectories reflect Concordia University Irvine as we look towards the next 50 years.

We are excited to move forward with a fresh approach to telling Concordia’s story. We hope that you’ll embrace this brand in every way. But most of all, we hope and pray that you are excited for the future of Concordia University Irvine. The Lord has blessed us mightily and will continue to do so as we faithfully carry out our call as the Great Commission University.

For His Students,
Michael A. Thomas, Ph.D.
President, Concordia University Irvine

A New Logo

Our redesigned logo amplifies Concordia’s focus on faith and quality education as a private, nonprofit Christian institution. The arched shape of the logo prominently features a cross, allowing our university to be immediately identifiable by our greatest conviction: that of being committed to our call as a Christian university. Within the logo, the iconic CU Center roofline silhouette sits beneath the cross. The logo features our University name in a mature, collegiate font and will primarily appear in green, with reversed options in white and black.

A New Seal

Our official university seal also received an update. At the center of the new seal is the cross and CU Center silhouette, surrounded by “Dedicated to the Great Commission” and “Sola scriptura. Sola gratia. Sola fide.” These phrases were carried over from our previous seal as they speak to Concordia’s founding mission and Lutheran heritage. The new seal also reestablishes our founding year of 1976, which is when classes were held for the first time at Christ College Irvine, the original name of the institution. The seal will primarily appear in green, with a reversed option in white.

A New Mascot

Concordia’s athletic identity and mascot are getting a refresh as well! Our athletic team name has evolved from Eagles to Golden Eagles — and our mascot got a fierce, fresh makeover. Why change from Eagles to Golden Eagles? Our goal is to create a unified brand across the university. Adding “golden” to our athletic team name helps tie our university brand and athletic brand more closely together and differentiates Concordia from our NCAA Division II competitors. Plus, the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is also a fully protected species in California!

A New Campaign

To introduce our new brand and positioning to the marketplace, we produced a marketing campaign, called Freedom to Explore, that highlights our dynamic Concordia community. This creative campaign features our Concordia students, alumni, and faculty members who were filmed and photographed on our campus and locations around the Greater Irvine community. The campaign is being rolled out across our website and in various advertising channels and platforms, such as streaming TV, streaming audio, social media, and more.

Learn More

Download Logos and Style Guides

The Concordia brand and marketing resources are designed to inform creative development and ensure apparel, signage, promotional items, and marketing assets are cohesive, consistent, and on brand. Visit our marketing resources page to download logos and the University seal and find guidelines for logo usage, color palette, typography, and more.

View Brand and Marketing Resources