Top 10 high school mascots in Alabama: Vote for the best

From Makos to Poets to Torches, meet the best high school mascots in Alabama

This isn't just any shark. It's a mako shark, as Orange Beach High School officials in Alabama could probably tell you. / TINA HARBUCK/THE DESTIN LOG via Imagn Content Services, LLC

The bell has rung for the 2024-25 school year, so it's officially high school mascot time.

Over the next couple of months, SBLive/SI will be featuring the best high school mascots in every state, giving readers a chance to vote for No. 1 in all 50.

The winners and highest vote-getters will make up the field for our NCAA Tournament-styleMarch Mascot Madness bracket in 2025. The Coalinga Horned Toads (California) are the defending national champions.

Here are High School on SI's top 10 high school mascots in Alabama (vote in the poll below to pick your favorite):

The poll will close at 11:59 p.m. ET Wednesday, Sept. 11.

1. Flying Squadron (Highland Home HS)

In 1941, all 11 members of the Highland Home football team were called to serve in World War II, and all 11 entered the airborne division of the U.S. military. From there, the nickname “Flying Squadron” was born, and it’s stuck ever since.

2. Ironmen (Holt HS)

Holt emerged as a town around the Central Iron and Coal Company in the early 1900s. The company recruited “ironmen” from bigger cities who knew how to operate a blast furnace, and the high school honored that history by making Ironmen its mascot. Today’s incarnation of that mascot is a formidable-looking knight that looks capable of taking on Marvel’s Iron Man.

3. Makos (Orange Beach HS)

The shortfin mako is the fastest-swimming shark, and Orange Beach has been a fast riser in high school sports since the high school opened in 2020. The Makos’ softball team won its fourth straight state championship in May 2024.

4. Poets (Sidney Lanier HS)

Poet Sidney Lanier served in the Confederate army and later lived in Montgomery, home of Sidney Lanier High School. The school is named for him, and the mascot is named for one of his many vocations (other Lanier-based mascot options could have been Teachers, Lawyers and Musicians).

5. Purple Cats (Ariton HS)

Ariton has fewer than 1,000 people, but the town gets Purple Cat Fever over its high school sports teams. There are no purple cats known to man (other than dyed ones), and Ariton boasts the only Purple Cats in the nation in the high school sports world.

6. Redtops (Slocomb HS)

From the Slocomb website: “According to Mr. James Bass, a Slocomb alumnus, John B. Davidson came to Slocomb High School as head coach after graduating from college. Coach Davidson painted his team's helmets red to distinguish them from the rest of the area teams' leather helmets. He called his team the Redtops, and the name stuck.”

7. Silent Warriors (Alabama School for the Deaf)

“Warriors” is one of the most common high school mascots in the country, but Alabama School for the Deaf is a one-of-a-kind as the Silent Warriors. The school has a long history of excellence in athletics, winning 32 total national championships across multiple sports.

8. Stampede (Paul W. Bryant HS)

Paul Bryant (Alabama) High School Stampede logo. /

The school is named after legendary Alabama coach Bear Bryant, and its nickname is a nod to Crimson Tide mascot Big Al the elephant. The Paul W. Bryant logo shows a herd of stampeding elephants, and its mascot is Stampy the Elephant.

9. Torches (Tabernacle HS)

Tabernacle boasts the only “Torches” in U.S. high school sports, and they’ve been successful across multiple sports since 1974. The Torches have won state championships in eight-man football, boys and girls basketball and volleyball.

10. Toros (Spanish Fort)

Spanish Fort (Alabama) High School Toros logo. /

Seven high schools boast “Toros” as their mascot across the country, but no one nailed the logo like Spanish Fort. Beneath a pair of bullhorns are a coolly designed “SF” that look like a bull’s face.

—

-- Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive | @sblivesports