Tommy Trojan is getting a makeover, and the venerable stacked TT is forever gone from Thornton High School’s football helmets.

These aren’t style choices. They were brought on by real fears that Texas Tech University, which also uses the stacked TT design, would blindside Thornton High with legal action for violating the university’s trademark.

Nearby Horizon High School also heard from the University of Iowa last fall, concerned that the Hawk logo on Horizon’s helmets was too similar to the Hawkeye design used by Iowa on its helmets.

Horizon replaced its old logo before the start of this fall’s football season. Any remaining logos on football uniforms are being phased out as the uniforms are replaced, said Joe Ferdani, spokesman for the Adams 12 School District.

The schools are putting a positive spin on all the changes. At Horizon, its school logo will now be consistently used across all athletic teams, spirit wear and publications, Ferdani said.

Thornton High, meanwhile, decided to make the logo redesign a community event, and as many as 1,700 students, teachers and residents chimed in on the new proposed designs. The result is that a sword with stacked T’s will be one of the new main school logos along with a slightly sleeker looking Trojan helmet.

“It really was a bonding event for the school,” said Thornton High principal Jennifer Skrobela. “We heard a lot of comments, and we learned how important this school and its logos are to the community.”

In fact, high schools across the country are changing or redesigning uniforms, helmets and letterheads as colleges and universities become increasingly protective of their nicknames, logos, colors and mascots.

That’s because they want to make sure the money coming into their programs from their licensed merchandise is not being siphoned off by high schools using their logos, officials say.

“Some people are very protective of their brand, and in this day and age, money seems to be ruling a lot of sports beyond the high school realm,” said Bert Borgmann, assistant commissioner of the Colorado High School Athletics Association.

“It’s really part of the business of sports that nobody really thinks about,” he said.

Borgmann said he puts himself in the shoes of major universities trying to keep their programs competitive and unique in the marketplace.

“I can understand their concerns about it,” he said.

Borgmann said CHSAA doesn’t keep track of how many Colorado schools have been contacted by colleges and universities.

But in the past five years, a flood of challenges have been issued by colleges and universities, and cease-and-desist letters have been sent to hundreds of high schools in the United States, said Lee Green, an attorney and professor at Baker University in Baldwin, Kan., where he teaches sports law and business law.

Cease-and-desist letters have been sent by Penn State University to Buna (Texas) High School and the University of Texas at Austin to Gardner (Kan.) Edgerton High School. In some instances, a single university has sent cease-and-desist letters to as many as 50 high schools using nicknames, logos or mascots even remotely similar to those of the college, said Green, writing for the National Federation of State High Schools Associations.

Colleges and universities are especially sensitive these days since big revenue can be generated for them by apparel and merchandise featuring logos, Green said. Also, high school logos are more visible than ever before thanks to the internet and social media.

Some universities grant licenses to high schools, sometimes for as little as $1 per year but with restrictions on how much the logos can be used. But when a big-time college or university is unwilling to compromise on the logo use, a high school may have to spend thousands to put the new logo on uniforms, school stationery, websites, signage, scoreboards and equipment, Green said.

No college has ever tried to take a high school to court over a trademark case, he said, adding most high schools simply give in to the demands of the universities because fighting would be too costly.

Texas Tech is no bully, said Chris Cook, a university spokesman. “Usually something can be worked out,” he said, although he wasn’t aware of the Thornton High School situation.

Thornton High, worried about recent trademark cases, reached out to Texas Tech but was too late to be “grandfathered” into any trademark agreement, said Skrobela, who took over as principal in July 2015.

But the university also offered no deadline for the school to change its logo, Skrobela said. So the new logos and designs can be added as the school starts recycling its uniforms.

“There will be virtually no cost to us,” Skrobela said.

Meanwhile, the football team is playing without logos at least for this year. Thornton’s uniforms are stark and clean, much like those worn by players at the University of Alabama or Penn State.

“I hope we don’t get into trouble for that,” Skrobela joked.