What is Florida State War Chant? Seminoles' song, Tomahawk Chop explained amid NCAA baseball tournament

Beginning Friday at Mike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium, Florida State's baseball team will compete for an opportunity to return to the College World Series during the super regional round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament against UConn.

A victory against the Huskies in the best-of-three series would send the Seminoles to Omaha, Nebraska for the CWS for the 24 time in program history — and the first time since 2019 — while continuing what has been a stellar season for the No. 8 national seed, which is vying to win the first national championship in program history.

Over the next several days, Florida State’s continued pursuit of that long-elusive NCAA title will come with a familiar soundtrack.

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For any fan of college sports, particularly college football, the tune of the Seminoles’ “War Chant” and the accompanying Tomahawk Chop is a staple of games, a melody that evokes memories of some of the most captivating contests, accomplished teams and iconic players in the game’s history. In many ways, the ritual is synonymous with not just the Florida State athletic department, but the university itself.

As the Seminoles work to make it back to Omaha for their sport’s marquee event, here’s what you need to know about the Florida State War Chant and the Tomahawk Chop:

What is the Florida State War Chant?

Florida State’s War Chant is a song that’s regularly played by the school’s Marching Chiefs band during various sporting events, though given the program’s dominance and national prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, it’s most commonly associated with the Seminoles’ football team.

For as famous as the tune has become, its origin story is somewhat murky.

According to the account on the athletic department’s official website, the song came to be during a “random occurrence” during a 1984 football game against Auburn. What is now the War Chant was actually a part of a larger melody of a Florida State cheer that the FSU Marching Chiefs would chant during games dating back to the 1960s.

During that fateful game against Auburn, a 42-41 loss for a previously undefeated Seminoles team ranked No. 9 at the time, the Marching Chiefs began to play that melody, with students behind them joining in and continuing what is now known as the War Chant after the band had finished playing.

Ultimately, that moment of improvisation had staying power. Students continued doing the chant during the 1985 season and by 1986, the whole stadium participated. As it became more of a ritual, the Marching Chiefs refined the song, putting what Florida State described as “their own special brand of accompaniment” to it.

For those who haven't seen it (or simply want to enjoy the spectacle), here's a look at FSU's War Chant, from the Seminoles' 2014 football game vs. Notre Dame:

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What is the Tomahawk Chop?

Of course, the War Chant is only part of the routine.

As the band plays the melody and the crowd participates in the chant, Florida State fans throughout the stadium extend their arms out in a motion meant to resemble the throwing of a tomahawk.

That act began around the time the war chant started being sung at games, with many fans seeing it as a natural complement. The pairing of the chant and chop have been adopted by several other teams and franchises that use Native American imagery.

When former Florida State star Deion Sanders joined the Atlanta Braves in 1991, the team’s fans began doing their own version of the War Chant and Tomahawk Chop whenever Sanders came to the plate. Over time, they started doing it at other points in the game. The Kansas City Chiefs have incorporated it, as well, after hearing Northwest Missouri State’s band, directed by Florida State graduate Al Sergel, do the chant in 1990.

"It's a direct descendant of Florida State," Chiefs promotions director Phil Thomas said to the Sun Sentinel in 1991. "The band started doing the tomahawk chop, and the players and (coach) Marty Schottenheimer loved it."

As it has spread, the War Chant and Tomahawk Chop have generated criticism and backlash, with some calling on the university to put an end to the tradition.

"Some traditions we cannot control,” former Florida State president Dale Lick told USA TODAY in 1993. “For instance, in the early 1980s, when our band, the Marching Chiefs, began the now-famous arm motion while singing the 'war chant,' who knew that a few years later the gesture would be picked up by other teams' fans and named the 'tomahawk chop'? It's a term we did not choose and officially do not use."

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU baseball War Chant, Tomahawk Chop explained amid NCAA super regionals