Fall in Texas means football, homecoming and of course the tradition of mums and garters. Every year, on the Friday before the game, students celebrate by wearing mums and garters decorated with anything from teddy bears to LED light. The tradition didn’t start in Texas,  it originated in Missouri.

The mum, short for Chrysanthemum, is a small round flower that was first discovered in Asia. In Japan, the mum was the seal and crest of the emperor and many noble families. To this day the Japanese cherish the mum. They have a mum festival known as the Festival of Happiness.  As it made its way through to the U.S, it gained a lot of popularity. Later it became known as the “Queen of the Fall Flowers.”

The more traditional homecoming mum however, did not become popular until 1911. At the University of Missouri, the tradition of a boy giving his homecoming date a mum was born. Back then mums were much simpler, usually just a small flower with a few ribbons.

Now  days, mums come in all kinds of colors and sizes, and they can cost anywhere between 30 to 300 dollars.

“The craziest one I’ve seen was online, this girl had the initial of her school surrounded in LED lights,” junior Brooke Fanning said. “It was the size of her entire body.”

Although the tradition has spread to other states throughout the years, it is still bigger in Texas.

“When I first heard about it last year, I thought it was very interesting,” junior Nhi Nguyen said.  “I think it continues to be popular because Texans are proud to have this unique tradition.”