Symbols and Facts

The flower of the Fraternity, chosen by Founder Ruby Leigh Orgain, is the white violet. Its symbolic meaning is explained in the Initiation Service.

In the late 1800s, an admirer of one of ZTA's Founders, Mary Campbell Jones (Batte), sent her a gift of strawberries. This specific present prompted the group of nine friends to host their first purely social gathering and to become officially recognized as a campus organization.

The Founders chose Themis to represent the Fraternity. Themis is, in Greek mythology, one of the Titans, daughter of Gaea (Earth) and Uranus (Heaven), and the mother of the three Fates and the Seasons. The goddess of divine justice and law, Themis was the constant companion of the god Zeus and sat beside him on Olympus. In ancient art she is represented holding aloft a pair of scales on which she weighs the claims of opposing parties.

The pledge pin is worn by a new member until her initiation. The turquoise and silver pin is modeled after the carpenter's square, representing the straight lines of dignity and moral conduct to which all ZTA's must uphold. All badges and pins are worn over the heart.

The colors of Zeta Tau Alpha are turquoise blue and steel gray. The significance of these colors is explained in the Initiation Service.

The banner of the Fraternity is rectangular and made of turquoise and gray satin. It bears the letter "A", the word "Themis"in Greek, and a burning torch. The meaning of the banner is secret, but it may be hung in a place that is visible to anyone entering a chapter house, lodge, suite or chapter room.

Only initiated members may use this in any manner, which is dignified and in good taste. The ritualistic meaning of the Coat of Arms is secret and is revealed to each member at the time of her Initiation.

* Our Philanthropy is Breast Cancer Awareness

* Our service work benefits the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation

* There are four Zeta collegiate chapters in Louisiana

* Zeta is the third largest National Panhellenic Group

* Delta Nu is part of Providence X-A

* Delta Nu is the 109th link in ZTA's Chain of Chapters

* Delta Nu was installed on UNO's campus on Founder's Day 1961

* There are 227 ZTA Collegiate chapters in the U.S and Canada

* ZTA is officially known as a fraternity and not as a sorority because a frat is an organization whose memebers have banded together for reasons of common interest and mutual benefit. We were designated as a frat to distinguish our organization from the sisterhoods organized in connections with men's frats, called sororities. As a result, ZTA has no brother organization.