1925 Homecoming Flag to Be Retired 100 Years after its Theft from Colorado Field

On Nov. 14, 1925, exactly 100 years ago today, the Colorado Agricultural College Aggies celebrated their homecoming with a football game against Colorado. Coach Harry Hughes' Aggies were undefeated and rolling toward their fifth conference championship in 11 seasons. The Aggies came out on top that day by a wide margin, a 12-0 shutout before an over-flow crowd at Colorado Field.

In the stands that day was a Longmont High School student who was an avid CU fan named Archie M. Schwieso. After the game, CU fans and Aggies fans are reported to have Mixed it up on the field, fighting and pushing one another in a melee of activity. At some time during the day, possibly while the fans were fighting, Schwieso must have seen a green and yellow flag with an A on it and took it from whatever flagpole it flew from on the CAC campus. It is presumed the flag flew over Colorado Field, but there is no documentation to prove this.

There is no mention in the newspapers of a missing flag following the victory, but Schwieso is known to have attended CU, and it is believed he pinned the captured Aggie flag to his wall based on its faded color on one side. He wrote on the spine of the flag, Captured Nov. 14, 1925 at Fort Collins, Colo and on the other side wrote, With My Regards, Archie M. Schwieso, 'An Old Friend of LHS'.

The flag's history from 1925 until the 1970s is unknown, then after the death of his grandmother, Crete Howe, 1976 CSU graduate Jim Crawford, who is also a cousin of Aggie legend Jim Hartman, found the flag in her belongings. While she had no connection to the perpetrators who stole it, she and her sister lived in Longmont and somehow the flag found its way into her possessions. Crawford reached out to CSU Athletic Historian John Hirn on Oct. 6, 2014, and asked if the flag could be returned to the school.

Hirn and Gordon Hap Hazard immediately did the research and found the flag had been stolen on homecoming day. Ironically, Crawford had reached out to Hirn with perfect timing as CSU was about to celebrate its 100^th anniversary of homecoming on Oct. 18^th. Crawford mailed it to Hirn, who was being presented with the Jim and Nadine Henry Distinguished Alumni Award on Oct. 16^th.

During his speech at the Distinguished Alumni Awards, Hirn had CSU President Tony Frank help him show the flag off to the attendees at the dinner. The 1925 Homecoming Flag had been officially returned to CSU 89 years after its theft. CSU interim athletic director John Morris loved the story and passed it along to Rams head coach Jim McElwain. McElwain immediately wanted this piece of CSU history at the homecoming game against Utah State.

With help from Hirn, and CSU director of football operations Tom Ehlers, a new tradition was born to have the team carry the flag at the bonfire and then have a player run out of the tunnel at Hughes Stadium with the flag.

Hirn said, Tom Ehlers called me the night after awards dinner and said, 'Coach wants to run the flag on the field tomorrow, can you bring it over today?'. Hirn brought the flag but forgot a flagpole, so a non-roster player followed him to his home to get a flagpole from his house.

On Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014, Max Morgan became the first Rams player to run the historic flag onto the field on homecoming day. The Rams faced Utah State in an epic battle that came down to the wire. The Rams won 16-13 on a last-second field goal and the magic of 1925 seemed to come alive as Morgan ran across the field with the flag after the game and into the locker-room.

The Rams won their next four homecoming games, each time with the flag coming onto the field before the game. Except for 2020 when there was no homecoming game, CSU has gone 8-3 on homecoming day with the historic flag leading the way onto the field.

This now 100-year-old flag, which may have been made by hand by the old home economics department, headed by the legendary Inga Allison, was in good condition in 2014 but 11 years of bonfires, locker rooms and handling on just one day of the year, has taken its toll.

Hirn is still the guardian of the flag, keeping it in the archives of CSU athletic history 357 days of the year. He stated after the 2025 homecoming, The flag is getting more wear and tear as we have taken it out each year. There are holes and frayed edges that were not on it in 2014, so the time has come to retire the flag from the field activity now that it is 100 years old.

The 1925 Homecoming Flag will not just go into a box and be forgotten for another 89 years. Hirn has a plan to professionally frame the flag so that it can be placed on display at homecoming events during the week. On gameday, it will be moved to the Hall of Champions, where it will be on display in one of the trophy cases for all fans to see for the next 100 years.

Those who have carried the flag onto the field for homecoming games are as follows:
2014 – Max Morgan
2015 – Sam Carlson
2016 – Cam the Ram
2017 – Jake Bennett
2018 – Olabisi Johnson
2019 – Brendan Fulton
2021 – Toby McBride
2022 – Henry Blackburn
2023 – Jack Howell
2024 – Cam Bariteau
2025 – Pastor Johnny Square

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