War Eagle War Eagle is a battle cry , yell , or motto of Auburn University and supporters of Auburn University sports teams , especially the Auburn Tigers football team . War Eagle is a common term of endearment , greeting , or salutation among the Auburn Family ( e . g . , students , alumni , fans ) . It is also the title of the university ' s fight song and the name of the university ' s golden eagles . It is incorrect to say the War Eagle battle cry in the plural , as in " War Eagle " s " " . The widespread use of " War Eagle " by Auburn devotees has often led to outside confusion as to Auburn ' s official mascot . However , the official mascot of Auburn University is Aubie the Tiger , and all Auburn athletic teams , men ' s and women ' s , are nicknamed the Tigers . Auburn has never referred to any of its athletic teams as the " Eagles " or " War Eagles . " The university ' s official response to the confusion between the Tigers mascot and the War Eagle battle cry is , " " We are the Tigers who say ' War Eagle ' . " " Since 1930 , and continuously since 1960 , Auburn has kept an actual eagle as a live , untethered mascot flying over the football stadium at athletic events . War Eagle VII , a Golden Eagle named Nova , along with Spirit , a Bald Eagle , perform the War Eagle Flight before all Auburn home games at Jordan – Hare Stadium . War Eagle VI , named Tiger , has retired from the War Eagle Flight , but is still present on campus . History of the " War Eagle " phrase . As early as 1916 , the Columbus , Georgia Daily Enquirer mentioned " War Eagle " as an Auburn Tigers battle cry . In the 19th and early 20th centuries , " War Eagle " appeared from time to time in the United States as an evocative nickname for people and things such as Native Americans ( including professional wrestlers ) ; race horses ; a U . S . civil war mascot ; and , in one case , a coal mine interest . There are several stories about the origin of the battle cry . One of these is a mythical story published in 1960 in the Auburn Plainsman , conceived by its then - editor Jim Phillips . This myth is detailed below under " War Eagle I " . A 1914 football game against the Carlisle Indians provides another myth . According to this story , there was a lineman / tackle named Bald Eagle on the Indians ' team . Attempting to exhaust that player , Auburn ' s team began running multiple plays directly at his position . Without even huddling , the Auburn quarterback would yell " Bald Eagle , " letting the rest of the team know that the play would be run at the tackle . Spectators , however , thought the quarterback was saying " War Eagle , " and began to chant that . Another legend claims that " War Eagle " was the name given to the large golden eagle by the Plains Indians because the eagle furnished feathers for use in their war bonnet s . According to a 1998 article in the Auburn Plainsman , the most likely origin of the " War Eagle " cry grew from a 1913 pep rally at Langdon Hall , where students had gathered the day before the annual football game against the University of Georgia . Cheerleader Gus Graydon told the crowd , " If we are going to win this game , we ' ll have to get out there and fight , because this means war . " During the frenzy , another student , E . T . Enslen , dressed in his military uniform , noticed something had dropped from his hat . Bending down , he saw it was the metal emblem of an eagle that had come loose during his wild cheering . Someone asked him what he had found , and Enslen loudly replied , " It ' s a War Eagle ! " The new cry was used by students at the game the following day . War Eagle birds . Auburn has had seven numbered " War Eagle " birds , but the first of these only appeared in a legend about the history of the phrase " War Eagle " . War Eagle I ( 1892 ) . The mythical War Eagle I has the most colorful story of all of the " War Eagle " eagles . War Eagle I ' s story begins in the Civil War . According to the legend , a soldier from Alabama was the sole Confederate survivor of a bloody battle , Battle of the Wilderness . Stumbling across the battlefield , he came across a wounded young eagle . The bird was named Anvre , and was cared for and nursed back to health by the soldier . Several years later the soldier , a former Auburn student , returned to college as a faculty member , bringing the bird with him . For years both were a familiar sight on campus and at events . On the day of Auburn ' s first football game in 1892 against the University of Georgia , the aged eagle broke away from his master during the game and began to circle the field , exciting the fans . But at the end of the game , with Auburn victorious , the eagle fell to the ground and died . In 2010 , a children ' s book , " The War Eagle Story " by Francesca Adler - Baeder and illustrated by Tiffany Everett was published that favors this version of the story . This legend was originally published in 1960 in the " Auburn Plainsman " and was conceived by then - editor Jim Phillips . Though apocryphal , this tale is most often told as the beginning of the association of " War Eagle " with Auburn . War Eagle II ( 1930 ) . Auburn ' s first real , live - eagle mascot , War Eagle II , was mentioned in the New York Times , which noted then that " War Eagle " was already established as Auburn ' s battle cry . In November 1930 a golden eagle swooped down on a flock of turkeys in Bee Hive , Alabama , southwest of Auburn , Alabama , and became entangled in a mass of pea vines . Fourteen individuals and businesses scraped together $ 10 and purchased the eagle from the farmer who owned the pea patch . Cheerleaders DeWit Stier and Harry " Happy " Davis ( who later became executive secretary of the Alumni Association ) helped care for the new bird . It was put in a strong wire cage and taken to the Auburn football game against the University of South Carolina in Columbus , Georgia on Thanksgiving Day . Auburn , having not won a Southern Conference game in four seasons , was anticipated to lose . However , Auburn took a 25 - 7 victory over the Gamecocks . The student body concluded that the luck from the eagle ' s presence — which had been absent from their prior losses — was responsible for the victory that day . The eagle was kept in a cage behind Alumni Hall ( renamed Ingram Hall ) , and cared for by members of the " A " Club . The bird ' s ultimate fate is unknown . Some say it died or was carried away by students of a rival school . Others say it was given to a zoo due to the high cost of upkeep ; there is even a rumor that it was stuffed and put in the John Bell Lovelace Athletic Museum . Originally known simply as " War Eagle " this bird was retroactively named " War Eagle II " with the arrival of War Eagle III . War Eagle III ( 1960 - 1964 ) . Auburn ' s third eagle arrived in Auburn in November 1960 after being captured by a cotton farmer in Curry Station , Talladega County , Alabama who found the bird caught between two rows of cotton . The eagle was sent to Auburn by the Talladega County Agent along with a load of turkeys . It was first taken to the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house where it refused a cold chicken leg but made fast work of a live chicken . After a short stay in one of the Wildlife Department ' s animal pens , the eagle was moved into a cage built by the Auburn ' s Delta Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega fraternity . This would begin a 40 - year period where Alpha Phi Omega was the bird ' s primary caretaker . Jon Bowden , a fraternity brother who had previously worked with hawks in Colorado and Missouri , volunteered to serve as the bird ' s trainer . Formally named War Eagle III , Jon nicknamed the bird " Tiger . " In April 1961 , Jon and Tiger made their first appearance as trainer and mascot on the baseball diamond . Auburn was playing the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and was trailing 10 - 13 in the eighth inning , but rallied in the ninth and scored 4 runs to win the game . The students were receptive to the new mascot and expressed a concern for a larger cage to house War Eagle III . In 1964 , on the morning of the football game against Tennessee , War Eagle III was seen by his trainer , A . Elwyn Hamer Jr . , sitting on the ground next to his perch . He had sprung the clip on his leash and escaped . After several days of searching , the bird was found shot to death in a wooded area near Birmingham , Alabama , where the game was being played . War Eagle IV ( 1964 - 1980 ) . The Birmingham Downtown Action Committee found another golden eagle in the Jackson , Mississippi zoo and presented it to the Auburn student body in October 1964 . This became War Eagle IV , also called " Tiger . " She lived in a large aviary — until torn down in 2003 the second largest single - bird enclosure in the country — that had been funded and constructed by the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity and named for A . Elwyn Hamer Jr . , War Eagle III ' s first trainer who had been killed in a plane crash in December 1965 . Throughout the years , the fraternity provided care and training for the mascot . On the morning of the 1980 Iron Bowl against Alabama in Birmingham , she was found dead by her trainers , Tim Thomason , Charlie Jacks , Bob Ingram , and her former trainer Bill Watts , having died of natural causes at age 22 , after having served as Auburn ' s mascot for 16 years . A marker in memory of War Eagle IV is located on the Auburn University campus near the former site of the aviary . War Eagle V ( 1981 - 1986 ) . Through the efforts of War Eagle IV ' s trainers and with the financial support of the Birmingham Downtown Action , an immature golden eagle was located soon after the death of War Eagle IV and brought to Auburn from Wyoming . The bird arrived in Auburn on March 3 , 1981 and was taken to the Veterinary School where she was kept for a short period in order to be examined for any signs of shock from travel . She was then transferred to a small cage until the annual " A Day " football game when she was presented to the University by the Birmingham Downtown Action Committee on May 9 , 1981 . The bird was under the stewardship of the U . S . Government under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act and was on loan to the Auburn University Veterinary School . She was officially named War Eagle V , and nicknamed " Tiger " as was tradition . She was approximately two years old at her arrival and was very active on campus . She attended many university functions , Alumni meetings , schools , hospitals , the 1985 Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree , and the 1986 National Order of the Arrow Conference . On September 4 , 1986 , War Eagle V died of a ruptured spleen at the age of 8 and a half years old . War Eagle V was taken to Auburn ' s veterinary school the night before by her trainer , Jim McAlarney , who noticed that she was not behaving normally . McAlarney spent the night at the veterinary school while veterinarians made a futile effort to save the bird ' s life . War Eagle VI ( 1986 - 2006 ) . The eagle trainers began working soon after the unexpected death of War Eagle V to find a new golden eagle . The Auburn University Alumni Association and many Auburn alumni contributed to the effort and a new eagle was located at the Tennessee Valley Authority Raptor Rehabilitation Facility in Land Between The Lakes , Kentucky . Trainers made the trip to the facility to receive Auburn ' s new mascot . The bird originally came from St . Louis , Missouri , where she was seized by Federal agents as part of an illegal breeding operation and brought to Kentucky . Like War Eagle V , she was under the stewardship of the U . S . Government under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act and was on loan to the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine . She arrived in Auburn on October 8 , 1986 at an age of six years old . Like the two eagles before her , she was cared for by the members of Alpha Phi Omega and nicknamed Tiger . During the 2000 football season , War Eagle VI began a tradition of performing a free flight before a home football game . War Eagle VI , and later other eagles kept by in the Southeastern Raptor Rehabilitation Center in Auburn , flew around the stadium before landing on the field as the crowd chanted " War Eagle " . In 2000 , day - to - day care of War Eagle VI was turned over to the Southeastern Raptor Rehabilitation Center , ending the 40 year program of care by Alpha Phi Omega . Shortly thereafter , the bird was moved from the Hamer Aviary to the Southeastern Raptor Rehabilitation center . The Hamer Aviary was torn down in the summer of 2003 . On February 8 , 2002 , War Eagle VI flew in Rice – Eccles Stadium as part of the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City . War Eagle VI was featured the next day on NBC ' s " Today Show " . In the summer of 2003 , allegations of improper care of the birds by the Southeastern Raptor Rehabilitation Center were leveled by the university administration and by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service . Many of the birds were suffering from diseases and malnourishment . After all investigations were concluded , War Eagle VI was allowed to fly again prior to Auburn home games . Currently , the Southeastern Raptor Rehabilitation Center uses three birds , Spirit , a bald eagle , Nova a golden eagle , and the aforementioned War Eagle VI ( Tiger ) . War Eagle VI ' s presence continues to be used as a wildlife educational tool . On November 11 , 2006 , War Eagle VI was officially retired in a pregame ceremony before the Georgia game . During halftime of the same game , her successor , Nova , was named War Eagle VII . In her final game as War Eagle VI , Auburn defeated Arkansas State 27 - 0 , finalizing the team ' s record under War Eagle VI at 174 - 69 - 4 . She saw two undefeated Auburn seasons , four SEC titles , and six SEC Western Division crowns . War Eagle VII ( 2006 – present ) . Nova , Auburn ' s six - year - old golden eagle , was officially named War Eagle VII on November 11 , 2006 . He was born in the Montgomery Zoo in 1999 and moved to Auburn at six months of age . Prior to being named War Eagle VII , Nova had already participated in pre - game flights and conservation exhibits throughout the southeast . War Eagle was named the # 4 mascot in a poll by Foxsports . " War Eagle " as Auburn ' s fight song . " War Eagle " is the name of the university ' s official fight song . It is played before and after games , as well as immediately after Auburn scores by the Auburn University Marching Band . ( Auburn plays " Glory , Glory , to Ole Auburn " after an extra point . ) In addition , the Samford Carillon , located in the clock tower of Samford Hall , rings the fight song every day at noon . " War Eagle " was written in 1954 and 1955 by New York songwriters Robert Allen and Al Stillman . The " Auburn Victory March " had been the fight song for decades . The Jordan Vocational High School Band of Columbus , Georgia , under the direction of Bob Barr first performed the song during Auburn ' s 1955 season - opener versus Chattanooga . Auburn University currently does not hold ownership of the copyright for " War Eagle " . The university did not renew it and the copyright is currently held by the estate of Robert Allen . Therefore , companies selling products with " War Eagle " being played must acquire licensing from the estate as well as Auburn University . There is a movement within the university to regain the ownership of the song .