Uga (mascot)
Mascot for the University of Georgia, U
Uga ( uh-GUH) is the official live mascot of the University of Georgia Bulldogs. Since Uga I's introduction in 1956, every Uga has been owned by the Sonny Seiler family of Savannah, Georgia. The mascot's name is a play on the common abbreviation for the University of Georgia, UGA.
Background
The Uga mascots started in 1956, when Seiler brought a bulldog that was given to him as a wedding present, by Frank Heard, at Georgia Bulldogs' first home game of the season. Afterwards, head coach Wally Butts asked his permission to use the dog as Georgia's mascot, and around the same time a University of Georgia Law School fellow student and friend Billy Young suggested that he name it Uga, a play on the common "UGA" abbreviation of the University of Georgia. Since then, every official Uga has been owned by and lived with the Seiler family in Savannah, Georgia. They also transport him to and from the events he attends as mascot.
Traditionally, the incumbent Uga is present at every Georgia Bulldogs home football game, many away games, and other university-related functions and sports events, and usually wears a spiked collar and red jersey with varsity letter. The red jersey is Uga's typical "uniform," though he wears a green jersey on St. Patrick's Day. Other special appearances include 1982, when Uga IV attended the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York City wearing a tuxedo, and 2007, when Uga VI wore a black jersey for the "blackout" game against Auburn University.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Uga (mascot)” as mascot for the University of Georgia, U. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the history & society register because the source frames it as mascot for the University of Georgia, U. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7877561. The Library of Congress control number is sh2006006993. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1956, 1982 and 2007.
Later summaries often reconcile disputed chronology or motive more neatly than the contemporary record permits. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Uga (mascot)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.