Fast Facts

Ever wonder where the phrase “Gloriana, Frangipana” came from? In the fall of 1892, a train full of IU fans was headed to the Purdue campus for a game. A group of students decided a new “yell” was in order, but what word would rhyme with “Indiana?” An undergraduate named Ernest H. Lindley, who worked at his father’s pharmacy, remembered a soap sold in the store that was derived from a popular fragrance called Frangipana. The rest is history. The next year, Joe T. Giles wrote words to a Scottish song for the IU glee club, incorporating part of the new “yell.” His song, Hail to Old IU, provided an alma mater. The frangipani flower, by the way, is tropical and is often used in Hawaiian leis. There’s a Frangipani Room at the Indiana Memorial Union.

Read about another IU flower of distinction here.