Photo: Icon Sportswire
The University of Texas at San Antonio is dropping the "Come and Take It" slogan at football games amid backlash.
UTSA President Taylor Eighmy announced the decision in a Tuesday, September 7, email to students. He explained that the rallying cry “has become a distraction from our mission and is likely to continue shifting our focus away from our work yet to be accomplished.”
The "Come and Take It" flag with star and cannon is well known to Texans outside the UTSA community because of its roots in the state's history. The flag was first used during the Texas Revolution to mark the first fight between American colonists and Mexico in Gonzales, the Houston Chronicle explained.
The flag shows the cannon that colonists refused to return to Mexican soldiers after they were allowed to use it to defend themselves against Native Americans in 1831. Almost 200 years later, the flag and slogan have become a symbol of defiance and has been used by everyone from gun activists to fast food chains.
Over that past few years, UTSA unfurled a giant "Come and Take It" flag while firing a cannon at football games. Now that tradition is coming to an end and the university has removed "Come and Take It" signs from its website, campus, and merchandise, KSAT reported.
Reaction to UTSA's decision has been split. A former UTSA professor who called the slogan "anti-Mexican" and started a petition to get rid of it applauded the change.
There is now a competing petition to bring the slogan back and some fans have gone so far to burn their UTSA gear, according to the San Antonio Express News.