For 37 years, a large, electric “#1” sign has stood atop Grace Hall. Now made of galvanized steel, painted white and facing southwest, the sign is more than 8 feet tall and 9 feet wide in its illuminated section, which stands on a base over 3 feet high.
The lights on the number sign glow gold and on the numeral glow green. (The computerized system can produce lights in any color and be set to shimmer or to display a pattern of changing colors.)
When is it lit?
The sign turns on whenever a Notre Dame varsity athletic team wins a national championship or is ranked No. 1 by the main poll in its sport. If a team wins a national championship, the sign remains on until that team’s first practice the following season.
The sign is on more often than off, because at least one Fighting Irish varsity sports team is generally ranked No. 1 or has recently won a national championship.
Notre Dame Athletics manages sign policy, while lighting and repairs are handled by the Facilities Design and Operations department.
Timeline:
1967: The Dome yearbook publishes a photo of an electric “1” sign above the front doors of the Rockne Memorial building, celebrating the football team’s 1966 national championship.
Fall 1973 or January 1974: Rev. Robert J. Malone, CSC, ’57, ’74M.A., and a group of seminarians create and place a “No. 1” sign at Moreau Seminary during a season that concludes with the football team’s winning the 1973 national championship.
Fall 1988: Residents of Grace Hall, then an undergraduate men’s residence hall, construct the original “#1” sign out of wood and white Christmas tree lights and set it on the roof to celebrate the football team’s rise to the No. 1 spot in the national polls.
Circa 1995: The tradition expands beyond football when the sign is lit to honor any national championship or No. 1 ranking in a varsity sport.
December 1995: The sign lights up to celebrate the varsity women’s soccer team’s national championship. It falls over during a windstorm and requires repairs.
1996: Grace Hall closes as a student residence hall and is converted to campus offices.
2001: A sturdier, steel sign replaces the wooden version.
2018: An upgrade replaces the sign’s incandescent bulbs with LED lighting.