The colors of UND athletics are green and white, which were adopted in the 1920s. The university's official school colors are green and pink, representative of North Dakota's state flower, the Wild Prairie Rose; however, this combination is rarely employed outside of official or ceremonial applications. UND's athletic teams bore the name of the Fighting Sioux, but were without a nickname and mascot from 2012–2015, in compliance with the NCAA's policy against the use of Native American nicknames. On November 18, 2015, it was announced the new nickname would be "Fighting Hawks", effective immediately.