ladybug?
 

I see ladybug items labeled as "Phi Mu" all of the time on eBay and I don't get it. Our mascot is a lion, so what's with all of the ladybugs? Shouldn't they be ASA items?

It's an unofficial secondary mascot at many chapters.

It's our unofficial mascot here. I think we started using it because another sorority (ADPi) has the lion as a mascot.

In the 1970s Phi Mu was in the process of adopting an "official" mascot, and the ladybug was one of those being consider because of ADPi's Alfie.

Before the convention where the mascot was to be adopted (1972 or 1974, can't remember which...too lazy to find my history), ASA officially adopted the ladybug.

When Sir Fidel was adopted as the official mascot, all chapters were *officially* discouraged from using the ladybug. Many chapters still resist over the years and use the ladybug as a sort of local/chapter icon. In 1978, when I met my chapter, the older sisters were still using the ladybug, but the newer sisters were migrating to Sir Fidel.

Your Phi Mu history lesson for the day...

Wow! You should do a history thread...I honestly haven't had a chance to learn as much of the "random" history as I could since the copy of the Phi Mu history book that my school allegedly received upon the installment of my chapter never showed up in the search...

That's very interesting!

Though I have to say, I can't imagine us having a ladybug as a mascot... I think the lion fits, but that's probably because I'm new-school and it's all I know. I knew that one of my professors who is an alum of the Alpha Upsilon (McNeese) chapter told me that they used the ladybug as an unofficial chapter mascot, but I always thought it was just a fun thing their chapter did. :)

Quick point of clarification - ASA has never officially adopted the ladybug as a mascot. Most of our chapters do use the ladybug, but our official symbols remain the palm, Phoenix, star, and crown.

This is correct - ASA does NOT have an official mascot. The only official things are the symbols and needless to say we're not giving each other stuffed palm trees. :)

Ya I never understood the Ladybug thing, at my campus I have never seen ladybug stuff related to us. But upon looking at other chapters websites I saw it and became confused.

Ok if it wasn't ASA who adopted the ladybug it was someone :)...I just remember reading the letter officially discouraging the use of the ladybug because another NPC group was using it as its mascot.

actually, I think back in 1972-74 this would have all been a moot point, because AFAIK most ASA chapters were still using Raggedy Ann. I never saw/heard of ladybug as a mascot until the early/mid 90s (probably because they were trying to get away from a copyrighted character). So I don't know who that would have been.

I always thought the lady bug was cute because ,after all, a Phi Mu is above all a Lady... =D

I had heard that the lady bug was our original mascot before Sir Fidel. Last summer I bought my twins the cutest Robeez lady bug shoes.

That is so funny because at Ole Miss I never saw the Lion. It wasnt until I visited some friends at Southern Miss that I saw the Lion and got confused. LOL I mean it was only a month or so after I pledged but I always sort of had theis icky feeling about the lion when I would see it and still do! Weird huh? I love the Lady bug and now that my daughters is considering Phi Mu at Southern I may have to finally accept the lion lol. But I still gravitate towards all things lady bug and ALWAYS think of my wonderful phi mu days at Ole Miss whenever I see anything with a ladybug on it. I guess in my heart phi mu & lady bug go togehter and the lion just bewilders me a little.

Update....ASA officially adopted Dot the Ladybug as our official mascot this summer at convention.