The 1927 University of Miami football team, elected the name Hurricanes as a tactic to sweep away opponents, as the devastating storm had the year before. Ibis, a local marsh-dwelling bird, was adopted in 1926 by Miami's yearbook staff and arrived as the university's mascot. Folklore maintains that the Ibis, a symbol of knowledge, found in Egypt, is the last creature to take shelter before a hurricane and the first to reappear after the storm. UM colors?...Orange symbolizes the orange tree's fruit, green represents the leaves, and white is the blossom.