The numbers are in, and the Houston Cougars have made it to the final four, along with Duke, Florida, and Auburn. Which means that along with the toilet paper on the oaks in Auburn, fans will be gearing up for another old tradition: the Houston hand signal!
Keep an eye out, everyone who is tuning into the Houston vs. Duke game, for a mixture between a peace sign with flair, the rock n’ roll sign, and a straight-up ‘H.’. For students, alumni, and fans of the University of Houston, the ‘Cougar Paw’ stands as a legendary symbol of pride, deeply rooted in decades of tradition, rivalry, and school identity. Since 1953, this hand sign has embodied resilience. What started as mockery from rival fans transformed into a defiant, unifying salute, and today, as the Cougars surge into the NCAA Final Four, fans flash it louder and prouder than ever.
And though the Houston Cougars aren’t the only college team with hand signals, it’s still a rare trend and not one that always makes an impact. Let’s be honest, it’s tough to come up with a truly unique and memorable thing to do with your hands. The University of Miami famously does a ‘U,’ and the University of Oregon does, you may have already guessed, an ‘O,’ but the University of Houston has an entire history behind it!
The link between the hand sign and Shasta the cougar
Maybe what makes the Cougar Paw so unique is that it didn’t start in celebration; it started in pain. In 1953, UH’s live cougar mascot, Shasta, injured her front paw during a trip to Austin for a game against the University of Texas. One of her toes was severed in a cage accident. And as if that wasn’t enough, Texas fans noticed and mocked the injury by bending their ring fingers down, mimicking the cougar’s now-altered paw, a taunt suggesting Houston’s weakness.
But Cougar fans turned mockery into a rallying cry. By the time the two teams tied 20-20 in 1968, the sign had become a symbol of unity. Then came 1976: Houston joined the Southwest Conference and crushed the Longhorns, 30–0. From that day on, the Cougar hand sign was etched into UH culture, a right-handed salute of loyalty, strength, pride, and finally…winning!
The sign is now as iconic as the fight song and just as fiercely flashed at basketball games, football tailgates, or whenever you spot another Coog in the wild. What started as a jeer is now an unmistakable cheer and continues on the legacy of the Houston Cougars and the Texas Cougar far into the future.
Houston Cougars’ cougar, Shasta: More than just a mascot
The University of Houston’s connection to the cougar goes back to 1927, when then-coach John R. Bender — a former Washington State football head coach and cougar enthusiast — suggested the animal as an emblem for his new team.
Later, students named the first live cougar mascot through a contest, and Shasta quickly emerged as the face of UH athletics. The winning entry, submitted by student Joe Randol, read, “Shasta (She has to). Shasta have a cage, Shasta have a keeper, Shasta have a winning ball club, Shasta have the best”.
While there have been seven different Shastas since then, the name has endured, symbolizing a long-running tradition in a vibrant athletic legacy. Though the school retired its live mascot tradition after Shasta V’s passing in 1989, the Cougar spirit has refused to fade.
Today, UH is represented by costumed mascots Shasta and Sasha and by a real-life duo: Shasta VII and Louie, rescued cubs now living at the Houston Zoo. UH’s partnership with the zoo includes livestreams, symbolic adoptions, and special traditions like the “Guarding of the Rings” for graduates. The tradition involves the class rings displayed in a UH-themed box inside the cougar enclosure so fans of the college and animals can watch Shasta VII and Louis symbolically guard the rings.
And speaking of fun cougar-themed quips, things went national when, most recently, Jimmy Fallon got into some trouble with the latest Shasta. When announcing his March Madness cat roll call, Fallon made the fatal mistake of omitting the Houston Cougars!
Shasta (mascot, not real) responded with a sign that felt equal parts middle-school sass and PR gold—“Please don’t forget me next time,” it read, like the diary entry of a poor forgotten pet, with the addition of that perfect primetime sass, “A cougar is a cat. And now we are one of four teams remaining.”
So whatever it is one associates with the Cougar Paw hand sign and the Houston Cougars, one thing is for certain: Shasta will go down in history for having lost a toe for his team!
The post What Does Houston’s Hand Sign Mean? Breaking Down Cougar Culture appeared first on EssentiallySports.
