The party symbol
The elephant, as a symbol, was born in the imagination of cartoonist Thomas Nast and first presented in Harper's Weekly on November 7, 1874. Other cartoonists picked up the symbol, and the elephant soon became associated with the party.


The origin of "GOP"
A favorite of headline writers, "GOP" dates back to the 1870s and 1880s. The acronym was first used in a story in the New York Herald on October 5, 1884 ("The Grand Old Party is in condition to acquire"). But what GOP stands for has changed with the times. In 1875 there was a citation in the Congressional Record referring to "this gallant old party," and in the Cincinnati Commercial in 1876 to "Grand Old Party." During the 1964 presidential campaign, "GO-Party" was used briefly, and during the Nixon administration, frequent references to the "Generation Of Peace" had happy overtones. In line with moves in the 1970s to modernize the party, Republican leaders took to referring to the "Grand Open Party."

The origin of Republican
The designation of Republican to one of the two modern American political parties came into modern usage in 1854. Alvan Bovay suggested in 1852 to New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley that a new party -- formed of disaffected Democrats, Whigs and Free-Soilers -- take Republican as its name. "Urge them to forget previous political names and organizations, and to band together under the name I suggested to you at Lovejoy's Hotel in 1852 … I mean the name Republican."

These groups met at Ripon, Wisconsin, on February 28, 1854, and the name was adopted as a state party convention at Jackson, Michigan, on July 6, 1854, when it was: "Resolved, that we will cooperate and be known as Republicans until the contest be terminates."

Dubois County
G.O.P.