Remember Penn State’s ‘Love Ya Lions!’ slogan? New collections feature vintage marks
Penn State will release a new merch collection with two vintage marks that were popular in the the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s this weekend.
The “Love Ya Lions!” mark first introduced by Back the Lions, an organization dedicated to boosting fan enthusiasm at Penn State football games. The “Love Ya Lions!” mark was displayed in “cartoonish” white font on a blue placard and was featured on pins, banners and crowd signs through the organization’s efforts in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Now, it will be reintroduced in an exclusive collection of merchandise, the university said in a press release.
Beginning Feb. 15 fans can shop the collection, which will feature the “Love Ya Lions!” mark in white “cartoonish” font on blue. The initial collection will include apparel, hats, tumblers, stickers and decals, and more products will be added in the future.
The collection will be available at local and online retailers and there will be two special Penn State athletics theme events that will have merchandise available: the men’s hockey game against Notre Dame on Feb. 15 and the men’s basketball game against Nebraska on Feb. 19.
The slogan reached the height of its popularity in 1982, after the Penn State football team beat Georgia to win the 1982 national championship, the release states. After, Back the Lions held a “Love Ya Lions Day” with a parade to celebrate the championship team. Stephanie Petulla, Penn State’s director of licensing and visual identity, said fans have been asking for the “Love Ya Lions!” to return for a long time.
“There are certain marks from the University’s history that fans remember and love, which showcase the longstanding affinity for the Penn State brand,” Petulla said. “Fans have been asking for ‘Love Ya Lions!’ to make a comeback for quite some time. Its return in 2025 is a special way to foster community and nurture pride among fans and more than 750,000 alumni while also engaging a new generation through the reintroduction of this popular vintage mark.”
With this launch, another vintage design will be reintroduced. A caricature of the Nittany Lion mascot, created in the late 1990s by Darryl Shellhamer, founder/CEO of SDS Design, will be included in the collection.
The release states Shellhamer got the idea for the business in a dream, which involved the Nittany Lion walking on his car and leaving paw prints all over it.
“In 1991 he created a die-cut paw print auto magnet, which quickly sold out, and ultimately expanded his products to hundreds of colleges and universities, as well as other markets,” the release states. A few years later, Penn State asked him to create a car magnet design that resembled a Nittany Lion stuffed animal, wearing a blue and white scarf holding up a No. 1 sign — a popular item in the Penn State Bookstore. That design appeared on T-shirt, sweatshirts, vinyl decals and stickers, the release states.
In its rerelease, the updated caricature design will have the Nittany Lion holding a “Love Ya Lions!” flag.
“Vintage and retro designs are more popular in the collegiate market than in any other market that we’re doing business in, and it’s easy to see why,” Shellhamer said. “Alumni hold the designs from their era very close to their heart. Those are the designs that say ‘We Are Penn State’ to them.”
