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University of Southern California School Colors

University of Southern California's school colors are USC Cardinal (#990000) and USC Gold (#FFCC00). USC's brand standards define 14 colors in all; every official HEX, RGB, CMYK and Pantone value is listed below, along with the story of how the colors were chosen.

USC Cardinal
#990000 · RGB 153, 27, 30
PMS 201 C
USC Gold
#FFCC00 · RGB 255, 204, 0
PMS 123 C

History of the USC colors

USC's colors are cardinal and gold. The university's history of its presidents says USC adopted them as its official colors in 1895, the year George W. White became president, while a 2016 USC Athletics announcement dates them to 1896. In that 2016 update, USC Athletics kept cardinal and gold as its primary colors and added black and white as secondary colors and metallic gold as a tertiary color for occasional use.

Sources: usc.edu · usctrojans.com

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, 3911 S.
USC football
Photo: MikeJiroch, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Dedeaux Field Playing Field
USC baseball
Photo: Spatms, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

USC primary colors

University of Southern California primary colors
ColorHEXRGBCMYKPantone
USC Cardinal#990000153, 27, 307, 100, 65, 32PMS 201 C
USC Gold#FFCC00255, 204, 00, 27, 100, 0PMS 123 C

USC secondary colors

University of Southern California secondary colors
ColorHEXRGBCMYKPantone
Black (100K)#0000000, 0, 00, 0, 0, 100—
White#FFFFFF255, 255, 2550, 0, 0, 0—
Gray (30K)#CCCCCC204, 204, 2040, 0, 0, 30—
Gray (70K)#767676118, 118, 1180, 0, 0, 70—

Additional USC palette colors

Additional colors in the USC brand palette
ColorHEXRGBCMYKPantone
PMS 474 C#F2C6A7242, 198, 1673, 24, 33, 0PMS 474 C
PMS 709 C#F26178242, 97, 1200, 77, 37, 0PMS 709 C
PMS 7685 C#2B559743, 85, 15192, 73, 11, 1PMS 7685 C
PMS 582 C#908C13144, 140, 1946, 33, 100, 9PMS 582 C
PMS 107 C#FDE021253, 224, 333, 7, 95, 0PMS 107 C
PMS 380 C#DAE343218, 227, 6718, 0, 87, 0PMS 380 C
PMS 1495 C#FF9015255, 144, 210, 54, 95, 0PMS 1495 C
PMS 179 C#E43D30228, 61, 484, 91, 91, 0PMS 179 C

Matching USC colors on clothing

Clothing sold as a given color can be noticeably off from USC's official values, and supplier color codes describe the dye target rather than the finished fabric. So we measured the actual fabric color of every garment we carry from product photos and fabric swatches, then compared it to USC's official colors. The pieces below are the closest in-stock matches, out of 334 styles close to USC Cardinal, 177 styles close to USC Gold.

Clothing in USC Cardinal #990000

Blank apparel whose fabric color is a close match to USC Cardinal, measured from the garment itself. 334 matching styles in stock.

Clothing in USC Gold #FFCC00

Blank apparel whose fabric color is a close match to USC Gold, measured from the garment itself. 177 matching styles in stock.

USC colors: frequently asked questions

What are USC school colors?

University of Southern California's school colors are USC Cardinal (#990000) and USC Gold (#FFCC00).

What is the hex code for USC Cardinal?

USC Cardinal is #990000 (RGB 153, 27, 30, CMYK 7, 100, 65, 32).

What is the hex code for USC Gold?

USC Gold is #FFCC00 (RGB 255, 204, 0, CMYK 0, 27, 100, 0).

What Pantone color is USC Cardinal?

USC Cardinal is PMS 201 C.

What Pantone color is USC Gold?

USC Gold is PMS 123 C.

Why are USC's colors USC Cardinal and USC Gold?

USC's colors are cardinal and gold. The university's history of its presidents says USC adopted them as its official colors in 1895, the year George W.

Color values are taken from the official University of Southern California brand standards (source), checked October 2026. Sweatshirt Station is not affiliated with or endorsed by University of Southern California. We sell blank apparel in matching colors; no logos or trademarks are sold. Photos are used under their Creative Commons or public domain licenses and are credited above.

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