Louie the Cardinal is the mascot of the University of Louisville. The Cardinal was chosen as the mascot after 1913, selected because the northern cardinal is the state bird of Kentucky.^[1] The school colors of black and red were adopted later^[when?].

The Cardinal appears at university sporting events, notably skydiving into Cardinal Stadium for each home football game. He also attends other community events during the year. He is considered a part of the "Spirit Groups" and is a member of the cheerleading team. In 2004, the Cardinal Bird was presented with the National Cheerleaders Association's Most Collegiate Mascot award.^[2] On occasion, the Cardinal will travel over to the school marching band's section to conduct the players from the band's podium.

The Cardinal is nicknamed "Louie". This is an homage to the name of both its school and city, as they are sometimes pronounced "Louie-ville." Others choose to abbreviate his name, nicknaming him "C.B."

His costume weighs over 50 pounds.^[3]^[4]

The Louisville Cardinal costume was first constructed in 1953 by Frances Goldsmith. The first person documented to wear said costume at an athletics event was Townsel Adams. ^[5]

References

^ "Louisville Athletics - Louie the Cardinal". Gocards.com. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
^ www.louisvillecardinal.com Cardinal Mascot
^ A Testimonial From the Cardinal Bird :: <blank>
^ Lowe, Kathleen (November 29, 2010). "U of L mascot pulls fan from wrecked car". The Louisville Cardinal. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
^ History of the Cardinal Bird: The First Birds

v t e Louisville Cardinals football
Venues	High School Park (1912) Eclipse Park (1913–1916, 1921–1922) Parkway Field (1923–1936, 1952–1956) Maxwell Field (1937–1942) duPont Manual Stadium (1938, 1940–1941, 1949–1951) Cardinal Stadium (1957–1997) L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium (1998–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Cincinnati: The Keg of Nails Kentucky: Governor's Cup Memphis
Culture & lore	Cardinal Bird Marching band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917–1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e Louisville Cardinals men's basketball
Venues	Belknap Gymnasium (1933–1944) Jefferson County Armory (1945–1956) Freedom Hall (1956–2010) KFC Yum! Center (2010–present)
Rivalries	Cincinnati Kentucky Memphis
Culture & lore	Billy Minardi Classic Cardinal Bird The Rivalry: Red v. Blue
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
NAIA and NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e Louisville Cardinals men's soccer
Venues	Old Cardinal Stadium (1979–1999) Cardinal Park Soccer and Track Stadium (2000–2013) Lynn Stadium (2014–present)
Rivalries	Kentucky Memphis
Culture & lore	Cardinal Bird
Seasons	2010 2014 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA College Cup appearances in italics

Mascots of the Atlantic Coast Conference

Baldwin the Eagle (Boston College)
The Tiger (Clemson)
Blue Devil (Duke)
Osceola and Renegade (Florida State)
Buzz & Ramblin' Wreck (Georgia Tech)
Cardinal Bird (Louisville)
Sebastian the Ibis (Miami)
Mr. & Mrs. Wuf (NC State)
Rameses (North Carolina)
Leprechaun (Notre Dame)
Roc the Panther (Pittsburgh)
Otto the Orange (Syracuse)
Cavalier (Virginia)
HokieBird (Virginia Tech)
Demon Deacon (Wake Forest)