Every Saturday morning during the college football season, fans across the country tune in to ESPN’s College GameDay. For Washington State University alumni, though, there is a second game happening before kickoff: spotting the Cougar flag waving somewhere in the background. 

The flag, known as Ol’ Crimson, has appeared at every College GameDay broadcast since October 2003. Nearly two decades later, it remains one of the most recognizable traditions in college sports. 

“It’s flag season in our house,” said C.J. McCoy, managing director of the Ol’ Crimson Booster Club. “Not college football season. Flag season.”

A message board, a flag and a road trip

The tradition began in the early 2000s, when Washington State football was thriving, and fans were campaigning to bring GameDay to Pullman. At the time, coordination happened not through social media, but on a fan message board. 

A WSU alum named Tom Pounds decided to take matters into his own hands. He made a Cougar flag and drove to Austin, Texas, where GameDay was broadcasting. Surrounded by a sea of burnt orange, he held up Ol’ Crimson.

People began to notice. 

Two weeks later, the flag was shipped to another fan for the next show. On Oct. 18, 2003, the streak officially began, and it has not stopped since.

In the earlier days, keeping the tradition alive required homemade PVC shipping tubes, overnight deliveries, and a whole lot of trust. If no one lived near the next GameDay location, someone would jump on a plane at the last minute. 

“It was incredibly grassroots,” McCoy said, “We’d wait for GameDay to announce the next location, then go online and ask, ‘Is anyone nearby?’ and somehow, someone always was.”

A national network of Cougs

Today, the system is more organized but still relies on volunteer alumni across the country. Once GameDay announces its next destination, the Ol’ Crimson team coordinates who will wave the flag and how to get it there. Some alumni have become regulars. One Atlanta-based Coug, Grag Trinkle, has waved the flag dozens of times thanks to GameDay’s frequent stops in the Southeast.

Still, logistics can be very unpredictable. Shipping delays have sent organizers scrambling to the UPS warehouse to track the flag down. 

One of the most memorable close calls happened after Ol’ Crimson was honored at ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut. The network has named the WSU flag its all-time favorite college football tradition, choosing it over some powerhouse programs. 

The commemorative flag dedicated to Randall Johnson, the designer of the Cougar head logo, was displayed at headquarters. Weeks later, when another flag shipment was delayed, ESPN stepped in, even using express services to ensure Ol’ Crimson made it on air. 

“It almost always comes down to shipping,” McCoy said. “But somehow, we’ve always found a way.”

More than a flag

For many Cougs, Ol’ Crimson is more than just a symbol on television. It is a connection point, especially for alumni who branch off from Pullman. 

McCoy regularly hears from graduates who grew up watching their parents search for the flag on Saturday mornings. Now, they do the same from new states and new time zones.

Some moments have carried deeper meaning. A widow once asked for an Ol’ Crimson flag to be flown at her husband’s funeral after he was killed in the line of duty. The club never asked for it back. 

“We get wedding requests, anniversary surprises, all kinds of things,” McCoy said. “It represents what it means to go to school in Pullman. It represents community.”

There was even a GameDay broadcast from an active Navy vessel, where Ol’ Crimson found its way aboard after organizers received a surprising email from ESPN host Chris Fowler confirming the plan. 

“We had to verify it was really him,” McCoy said. “But it was.”

Keeping the streak alive

What makes the tradition remarkable is not just its longevity, but its consistency. Every week depends on volunteers willing to wake up before dawn, stand for hours in a crowd, and represent Washington State on a national level.

“It means more to college football than people want to admit,” McCoy said. “Especially with everything WSU has been through in recent years, it’s something that connects us.”

Students and alumni who want to participate can email the Ol’ Crimson team through their website and volunteer to wave the flag at a future show. Donations to support shipping and travel are also accepted at the website 

For McCoy, the mission is simple: make sure the flag gets where it needs to go. 

For Cougs watching from California, North Dakota or anywhere in between, that flash of Crimson in the background is not just school pride, it is a sense of home. 

“Once you see it,” McCoy said, “you never stop looking for it.”