Flag once stolen by CU fan is a new CSU football tradition

Sam Carlson was giddy about the piece of history bestowed upon him.

It hadn’t left his side since a Friday night pep rally.

From a parking lot 300 yards south of Hughes Stadium, he led his CSU football teammates on the ceremonial “Ram Walk” past thousands of fans and alumni ready to watch the homecoming game.

In his left hand were his shoulder pads and a helmet. In his right was a pole, and from it hung a flag. Gold and green by today’s standards, but when it was sewn in the 1920s — likely in a Colorado A&M home economics class — it was intended to be maize and alfalfa, the school colors from back in the day, before the corn yellow was replaced by pumpkin orange.

It’s a thin cloth. A yellow border around a green block cut with scissors to form the letter “A.” There are a few loose stitches and an apparent small blood stain. All things consider, for a piece of fabric that’s at least 90 years old, the flag is in good condition. And on its hoist is an ink inscription:

“Captured Nov. 14, 1925 at Ft Collins, Colo.”

Like the green flags that waved in the southern wind at Hughes Stadium on Saturday, 90 years ago this flag once flew above Colorado Field, Colorado State University’s former home. That was until the Rams’ (then known as the Aggies) fourth annual homecoming game against the University of Colorado.

Colorado A&M won 12-0, and out of disgust a Longmont High School student named Archie M. Schwieso, who’d later attend CU, ripped down the flag and took it home with him. No one knew of its whereabouts for 89 years until just before homecoming 2014, when CSU historian John Hirn got a call from Jim Crawford, a 1976 graduate, who found the flag among his grandmother’s belongings. How it got there remains a mystery. She didn’t take it. She wasn’t even in the state in 1925. But it’s presumed the flag was on display for years at a fraternity in Boulder, judging by its fading on one side.

“We don’t know what happened to (Schwieso), but his grandmother was the sister of the woman whose stuff they found the flag in,” Hirn said. “It was just passed through the generations, and it sat in a drawer for about 50 years.

“We officially brought it back to the school last year at homecoming, which was our 100th anniversary of homecoming.”

Former CSU linebacker Max Morgan proudly waved the flag last season as students stormed the field during the Rams’ 16-13 victory over Utah State. This year, it was Carlson’s turn to carry what’s quickly becoming a coveted young tradition around the Rams’ locker room.

A young and evolving tradition.

Last year it made only a small appearance at Hughes Stadium for the homecoming game. Saturday, the team proudly carried it onto the field before kickoff and cheerleaders carried it after every CSU score during its 38-23 victory against Air Force. Next year, who knows, but the senior selected to carry it will undoubtedly do so with pride.

“I wanted to carry it. I even slept with it,” said Carlson, a senior offensive lineman. “I took it to the homecoming rally, and since I was a captain, I gave it to Jake Bennett to carry onto the field because he really wanted to. I kind of dubbed him with the responsibility.

“It’s a huge part of our history that we didn’t know we had, and when you add that up, it brings more tradition and more excitement to CSU football.”

For insight and analysis on athletics around Northern Colorado and the Mountain West, follow sports columnist Matt L. Stephens at twitter.com/mattstephens and facebook.com/stephensreporting.