Red Lion and The Ancient Red Lion Rampant

The Red Lion Rampant

The practice of adopting a school moniker became both fashionable and an imperative especially for Catholic school named after Saints during the 1940’s in the Philippines. The American Catholic schools started the rage earlier when the clergy became wary of sports headlines such as “ St. Peter mauls St. Paul 80 – 40”. In the Philippines, headlines of whipping and trashing of schools named after saints drew mixed emotions among the clergy and devout Catholics. “Why would a Catholic saint whip another Catholic saint?”, they would ask.
On July 31, 1940, Fr. Sergio Martinez OSB, inspired by English tradition, coined the moniker “Red Lion” for the school. Red is the color of courage, of a warrior and a martyr. The lion on the other hand represents dominance, the King of the Jungle.
In the old heraldic tradition, combining RED with the LION symbolizes dauntless courage, bravery, strength, ferocity, valor and magnanimity in victory. In its ancient and traditional form, San Beda's Red Lion is actually the Red Lion Rampant of Scotland which eventually became a prominent English heraldic symbol.
In the Catholic tradition, the Lion is the accompanying symbol of courage whose symbolism itself is rooted in the ancient Lion of Judah. The Roman family of St. Benedict himself used the Lion Rampant as their coat of arms.
It is not by mere coincidence that the school adopted the Red Lion/Red Lion Rampant of Scotland as the school symbol. San Beda College was named after a great Benedictine Saint whose country of origin, England, has adopted for its own the heraldic symbol of the Scots, the Red Lion Rampant. In addition, it is a historical fact that the history of England in general and of its church in particular, is deeply connected with the history of the Benedictines in that country. St. Bede was one of England’s greatest contribution to the world. The Red Lion of Scotland on the other hand became a popular and quintessential symbol in England with the Union of the Crowns. Thus the Red Lion, rooted in the traditional Red Lion Rampant of Scotland and the ancient Lion of Judah, is a fitting symbol for the Catholic Benedictine School named after the Venerable Bede of England.

Indian Yell
 

The San Beda Red Army cheering the Indian Yell
The Cuerba brothers, both Bedans, composed the Indian Yell in 1947 after the liberation from the Japanese empire. The Indian Yell was initially solely performed on drums accompanied by cheers from the students. However, this made the cheer somewhat lacking in power and needed something to rejuvenate the audience. So they changed the sound of the yell and incorporated a horn section. Accompanied by the tomahawk chop, the Indian Yell became more lively, intimidating, and full of spirit.
The Indian Yell is San Beda's romanticized version of the Indian war whoop. It mimics the native Indian war chants and vocalization techniques designed to intimidate the opponent. North American Indian war chants are verbalization of tunes that implore the great spirits to help them in battle. The romanticized Bedan Indian Yell is believed to have been inspired by the Plains Indian.
The Indian war whoop also gave rise to various derivative chants most especially the Lion's Roar. The Lion’s roar, with the simple "Wooohooo", also mimics primitive chants of Native American Indians. This is an indirect offspring of the Wahoos started by both Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia in the 1890s. Bedans popularized this aboriginal Native American form of chanting in the Philippine collegiate league and has spawned variations now used by many other schools.
The Native Americans were a courageous and defiant people. This is also true with the ancient Scottish warriors and their Red Lion Rampant. From the Old World (Europe), Bedans adopted the Red Lion while from the New World (North America) they adopted the Native Americans. Both are Red and both are symbols of Courage.
The ingredients were actually ripe for an Indian inspired theme to gain popularity and acceptance among Bedans. The Scouting movement, introduced to the country by the Americans, became very popular in San Beda College. Worldwide, the movement and the infatuation with North American Indian cultures grew hand in hand. Indians became one of the major "lure" to recruit boys. In fact, North American Indian iconography is not only popular in the Scouting movement but in many aspects of the Euro-American psyche. Combining this infatuation, reinforced by the popularity of North American iconogrpahy in the movies, literature and American sports, led to the blossoming of an Indian inspired theme in San Beda.

Little Indians
 

The Little Indians
To accompany the Indian Yell, the Little Indians were conceptualized by Ramon Ventoza (. GS '46, HS '51). Mon Ventosa is the longest serving moderator / instructor of the San Beda College Cheering Association. A cheerleader himself during his student days in San Beda College, Mon was appointed as instructor of the College's Cheering Squad (1952 - 1962). He came up with idea to accompany the Indian Yell for the half time cheering.
There were only three Indians in 1947: Gabriel Gasar and the Casal brothers, one of which eventually became a Benedictine monk. Slowly , the recruitment process changed and participation from the grade school pupils rose because many wanted to become Little Indians. Tito Mon wanted the Indians to be stout and adorable. From three Indians since 1947, the membership rose to a minimum of eight in the 90’s.

Ánimo San Beda!
 

Have Courage San Beda! ¡Ánimo San Beda!
One of the more popular line in the traditional Bedan cheers is "Ánimo San Beda!".
Bedans use Ánimo! to mean COURAGE in their cheers. When Bedans yell “Ánimo San Beda!” they actually mean “Courage San Beda!/Have Courage San Beda!", faithful to the Spanish idiomatic usage of the word. Ánimo! is a Spanish word which means spirit, energy, vitality, purpose and will. Used as an expression of encouragement by Spanish speaking societies, it means courage or have courage. "Advance San Beda!" and "Vamos!" were also popular then. In the pre-war Spanish San Beda cheer (also known as El Colegio de San Beda Tiene que Ganar!), "Ánimo!" is also included. Even in the traditional English cheer, "Stand on the Grandstand", "Ánimo!" is extensively used. It is a shared belief among Bedans that the popular line "Animo ________, Beat _________" used by other schools as a stand alone cheer, originated from the 1950s Bedan Cheer Stand on the Grandstand".
The most recent cheer which incorporates "Ánimo San Beda!" is the 1970s SBCA. Said cheer was adopted in the 1970s to pay tribute to the new addition to the Benedictine community, the Benedictine Abbey School - San Beda Alabang