The origin of party symbols

Most people know the symbol of the donkey stands for the Democratic party and the elephant represents Republicans, but what is not as well known is where the symbolism originated.

According to a local political science professor, the donkey came about in the 1820’s when Andrew Jackson was running for president. Jackson was known for being stubborn, and the Donkey seemed to be quite fitting. Jackson was also the first candidate to run as a Democrat.
When he won, the donkey symbol stuck for the party.

The Republican elephant didn’t come around until 1876, when cartoonists started representing the biggest party, the grand old party, as a huge elephant.

”The elephant became a representation of this larger than life party, and the cartoon itself was an elephant falling over a cliff into the abyss because we were going to lose democracy,” said political science professor Greg Arey.

The elephant symbol stuck as the representation of this giant, growing party.