Dear Old State: The return of Penn State’s ‘Love Ya Lions!’

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — “Love Ya Lions!” Those three simple words are undoubtedly remembered by many alumni and fans as a representation of unified pride for Penn State in the 1970s and 1980s. 

The slogan was first introduced by Back the Lions, an organization formed in 1973 to boost fan enthusiasm at Penn State football games. Through its efforts, the “Love Ya Lions!” mark — displayed in a cartoonish white font on a blue placard — began to appear on pins, banners and crowd signs. 

"Love Ya Lions!" reached the height of its popularity nearly a decade later when the Penn State football team defeated Georgia to win the 1982 national championship. In January 1983, Back the Lions sponsored “Love Ya Lions Day,” complete with a parade, to celebrate the championship team. The mark was also featured on a Penn State Blue Band album cover from the era. 

And now, in 2025, “Love Ya Lions!” will be reintroduced to the public. 

Penn State is planning to release an exclusive collection of merchandise featuring the vintage mark this spring. Items including apparel, hats, tumblers, stickers and decals will be available via local and online retailers beginning Feb. 15, with additional products to be added in the future. Merchandise will also be available for purchase at two upcoming Penn State Athletics theme events: the men’s hockey game versus Notre Dame on Saturday, Feb. 15 and the men’s basketball game against Nebraska on Wednesday, Feb. 19.  

“There are certain marks from the University’s history that fans remember and love, which showcase the longstanding affinity for the Penn State brand,” said Stephanie Petulla, director of licensing and visual identity at Penn State. “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.” 

Introduction of the "Love Ya Lions!" mark is just one example of the longstanding impact Back the Lions has made for Penn State in its 50-year history. In 1989, the organization created two endowments: one to support a scholarship for the student who portrays the Nittany Lion and one to support other spirit programs.

According to Petulla, the upcoming merchandise launch will also include the reintroduction of another vintage design — a caricature of the Nittany Lion mascot initially created in the late 1990s by Darryl Shellhamer, founder and CEO of SDS Design. 

A longtime Penn State fan, Shellhamer got the idea for his business through a dream — one that involved the Nittany Lion walking on his car and leaving paw prints on 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. 

In 1998, Shellhamer was asked to create an auto magnet design to resemble a popular item in the Penn State Bookstore: a Nittany Lion stuffed animal wearing a blue and white scarf and holding up a No. 1 sign with its paw. After a few rounds of updates, the caricature was finalized and entered the marketplace. In addition to auto magnets, the design appeared on t-shirts, sweatshirts, vinyl decals and stickers. 

In its rerelease this spring, the updated caricature design will feature 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.”