VINTAGE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA HAWKEYES HERKY 12 INCH PATCH

Description

Vintage University of Iowa's Herky Chenille Patch -
Hard to find authentic patch measures 12 inches high and 8 1/2 inches wide. Excellent condition. Material is felt base and border and design is sewn with embroidery thread. This style is one adaption of the original1950s football style. (SEE INFORMATION BELOW.) This style was primarily for basketball, wrestling and other sports and sometimes was referred to as "Flyin' Herky."
About Herky
SOURCE: Wikipedia
Periodically, Herky's wardrobe and overall design have been updated. There are currently two different styles of Herky costumes. The version used at football games and related events features Herky wearing a Hawkeye football helmet. The version used at basketball games and other events features Herky with different facial features and no helmet.
The Hawkeyes and Herky
SOURCE: Hawkeye Sports.com
https://web.archive.org/web/20080524025955/http://hawkeyesports.cstv.com/trads/herky.html
The University of Iowa borrowed its athletic nickname from the state of Iowa many years ago. The name Hawkeye was originally applied to a hero in a fictional novel, The Last of the Mohicans, written by James Fenimore Cooper. Author Cooper had the Delaware Indians bestow the name on a white scout who lived and hunted with them.
In 1838, 12 years after the book was published, people in the territory of Iowa acquired the nickname, chiefly through the efforts of Judge David Rorer of Burlington and James G. Edwards of Fort Madison. Edwards, editor of the Fort Madison Patriot, moved his newspaper to Burlington in 1843 and renamed it the Burlington Hawkeye. The two men continued their campaign to popularize the name and were rewarded when territorial officials gave it their formal approval.
The Hawkeye nickname gained a tangible symbol in 1948 when a cartoon character, later to be named Herky the Hawk, was hatched. The creator was Richard Spencer III, instructor of journalism. The impish hawk was an immediate hit and he acquired a name through a statewide contest staged by the UI Athletic Department. John Franklin, a Belle Plaine, Iowa, alumnus, was the man who suggested Herky.
Since his birth 55 years ago, Herky has symbolized intercollegiate athletics at the University of Iowa and epitomized university life. He even donned a military uniform during the Korean War and became the insignia of the 124th Fighting Squadron.
During the mid-1950s, Herky came to life at a football game as the Iowa mascot with a black leather head and gold felt feathers. Since then, Herky has become a familiar figures at intercollegiate athletic events of all types on the UI campus.