HATTIESBURG (AP) — The march to a new logo has been an ongoing one for Southern Miss. After unveiling the updated design some time ago, the school officially completed the trademarking and registering process last week, and on Wednesday the Golden Eagles celebrated its official launch.

Now the question for USM sports fans is when the sleeker, edgier bird will begin appearing on uniforms and playing fields.

With the season on the horizon, it’s unlikely that the new image will be seen on the football field in any form — whether on the turf or on uniforms — this year. USM Athletic Director Bill McGillis said Wednesday the process will be an ongoing one, but for now the “Southern Miss” word mark prominently used for football will remain.

“Our intention right now is to keep the ‘Southern Miss’ logo that we have currently, the word mark, at midfield on the football field,” McGillis said. “We’re going to keep ‘Southern Miss’ on the helmet for now. There’s a lot of tradition — twenty years or so of having ‘Southern Miss’ on the side of that helmet.

“There may be a time when the Eagle head makes its way on (the helmet), but right now we’re going to stick with (‘Southern Miss’).”

McGillis said that within the next month the entire basketball court will be redone with a new design and the new eagle head “very, very prominently featured.” He added that it will take months, maybe even years, to replace all the signage around campus, and that the old eagle head may still live on in certain places, saying “those things represent a heritage.”

The school’s previous logo was designed in 2003, but in 2011 the United States Patent and Trademarking Office ruled that it was too similar to the Iowa Hawkeyes logo and required USM to make a change.

The new logo is the 10th since Southern Miss adopted the Golden Eagles nickname in 1972.

Merchandise featuring the new eagle head is available immediately, and will be distributed to outlets throughout the community during the next six to eight weeks, with the school continually rolling out new items.

McGillis, university president Rodney Bennett and logo designer Rodney Richardson were all on hand Wednesday to celebrate with fans at the on-campus bookstore for the official presentation after a yearlong process.