Rose Parade 2027 Shirts: Date, Theme, Trademark Rules

The 138th Rose Parade steps off at 8 a.m. Pacific on Friday, Jan. 1, 2027, in Pasadena, Calif., under the theme "Welcome," according to the Pasadena Tournament of Roses. The 113th Rose Bowl Game follows the same day as a College Football Playoff quarterfinal. Between float decorating crews, marching band trips, watch parties, and the Rose Bowl Half Marathon two weeks later, the event produces a steady run of group shirt orders in November and December. It is also one of the most tightly trademarked events in the country, so this guide covers the dates, the orders that come with them, and the names a print shop should not put on a shirt without written permission.

Rose Parade 2027 at a glance

The parade is never held on a Sunday, so when Jan. 1 falls on a Sunday it moves to Jan. 2. That is not an issue in 2027 because New Year's Day is a Friday.

The "Welcome" theme

Madigan announced the theme at the Tournament's January event and described it as simple and direct. A theme like this is easy to print without touching any trademark: the word "Welcome" is ordinary English, and it works on a rose graphic, a sunrise, or a city skyline. What a shop cannot do is pair it with "Rose Parade," "Tournament of Roses," or the Tournament's rose logos without a license (see the trademark section below).

Who orders shirts for the parade

Marching bands. The Tournament selected 21 bands for 2027 and announced them March 4, 2026. Pasadena Now's list includes high school bands from Missouri, Indiana, Minnesota, Georgia, Texas, and California, international bands from Mexico, Costa Rica, and Japan, the Jacksonville State Marching Southerners, the Bowling Green State University Falcon Marching Band, and the U.S. Marine Corps West Coast Composite Band. The same article puts the average cost of participating at $2,000 to $2,500 per member, so band boosters run fundraisers all fall, and travel shirts, parent shirts, and fundraiser tees are part of that. The two remaining university bands come from the Rose Bowl Game teams and are added after Selection Day in December, which leaves those schools only a few weeks to order. The first LGBTQ+ community marching band. Pride Bands Alliance will march as one combined band drawn from its member groups, led by director Laura Blake. The Alliance calls it a historic first in the parade's 138-year history. The Alliance lists 42 member organizations, and combined bands like this usually need matching travel and rehearsal shirts on a short timeline. Float decorating volunteers. According to the Tournament's volunteer page, all volunteer decorating is organized by the float builders, not by the Tournament. Volunteers contact a builder directly and sign a waiver. The commercial builders listed are Artistic Entertainment Services, Fiesta Productions Inc., and Phoenix Decorating Company. Self-built floats come from groups such as the Burbank Tournament of Roses, the Cal Poly Universities, Downey Rose Float Association, La Canada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Association, Sierra Madre Rose Float Association, and South Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association. Volunteers are told to wear old clothes, which is why crew shirts for church groups, scout troops, and school clubs are common: cheap, bright, and easy to spot in a warehouse full of people. Watch parties and New Year's Day groups. Most people who wear a Rose Parade-themed shirt are watching on TV. These orders overlap with New Year's Eve and New Year's Day shirts and with bowl game watch parties. Runners. The Rose Bowl Half Marathon and 5K is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 17, 2027, organized by The McCourt Foundation, with the finish on the stadium field. Running clubs order team shirts for it the same way they do for the races in our January and February 2027 race calendar. Published fees for the 5K conflict between listings, so check the organizer's registration page.

The trademarks a print shop needs to know

The Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association holds federal registrations for its event names, including registrations that cover clothing. According to trademark records on Justia:

The Tournament's brand use guidelines list more names it treats as registered marks, including Rose Bowl Game, Rose Bowl Parade, Rose Queen, Pasadena Tournament of Roses, and America's New Year Celebration, and say the rose logos are its property. The guidelines require written authorization from the Association before any use and give a marketing email address for requests. They do not publish licensing fees or a per-shirt program for print shops.

The Tournament has gone to court over these marks before. In February 2021 it sued the City of Pasadena, which owns the Rose Bowl stadium, over rights to the Rose Bowl Game name. A federal judge dismissed the claims in July 2021, and in March 2022 the court ordered the Tournament to pay the city $408,923.10 in attorneys' fees, according to Pasadena Now. We did not find any suit against a print shop or apparel seller, but an organization willing to sue its own host city over a name is not one to test.

This is general information, not legal advice. When a customer wants the official name or logo, the safe answers are a written license from the Tournament or the official merchandise from the Tournament's shop.

What is generally safe to print

• The theme word "Welcome" with your own rose, sunrise, or Pasadena-style artwork that does not copy the Tournament's logos.
• Group identity: "Troop 512 Float Crew," "Clovis Band Parents," "Smith Family New Year's 2027."
• Generic phrases such as "New Year's Day 2027," "Parade Day," or "Float Decorating Crew."
• The band's or school's own name and logo, with the school's permission, which bands already have through their booster programs.
• Rose and flower art the shop or customer created.

What to turn down without a license

• "Rose Parade," "Rose Bowl," "Tournament of Roses," or "Granddaddy of Them All" as the design.
• The Tournament's rose logos or anything traced from official merchandise.
• College team names and logos for the Rose Bowl Game matchup; those are licensed by each school.

Print notes for parade orders

Plan around the calendar. The two final university bands and the Rose Bowl teams are not known until Dec. 6, which leaves about three weeks including Christmas. Order DTF transfers early in the week of Dec. 7 and leave a buffer for the carrier slowdowns in our holiday shipping deadlines guide. Red on white and cream. Rose designs depend on a true red. On white and natural shirts, DTF prints red without needing a heavy white underbase, so the print stays softer. On dark band colors, the white underbase keeps the red bright. Our off-white blanks guide covers cream and natural shirts by brand. Cold mornings. People camp along Colorado Boulevard overnight on Dec. 31, so long sleeves and crewnecks sell alongside tees. Press settings for fleece and blends are in our DTF temperature and time chart. For band jackets and hats, see the placement guide for sleeve and back sizes.

Frequently asked questions

When is the 2027 Rose Parade?

The 138th Rose Parade starts at 8 a.m. Pacific on Friday, Jan. 1, 2027, in Pasadena, Calif. It runs about two hours over a 5.5-mile route along Colorado Boulevard. The 113th Rose Bowl Game is played the same day as a College Football Playoff quarterfinal.

What is the 2027 Rose Parade theme?

The 2027 theme is "Welcome." Tournament of Roses President Terry Madigan announced it on Jan. 15, 2026. The word itself is not a trademark, so a shop can print "Welcome" with its own artwork, but not alongside the Tournament's names or rose logos without written permission.

Can I print "Rose Parade" on a T-shirt?

Not without permission. The Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association holds a federal registration for ROSE PARADE that covers shirts and T-shirts (Reg. No. 1,856,603), and its brand guidelines require written authorization for any use. The same applies to Rose Bowl, Tournament of Roses, and Granddaddy of Them All.

How do I volunteer to decorate a Rose Parade float?

Contact a float builder directly. The Tournament says volunteer decorating is organized by the builders, such as Artistic Entertainment Services, Fiesta Productions, and Phoenix Decorating Company, and by self-built float associations like Burbank, Sierra Madre, and South Pasadena. Volunteers sign a waiver and should wear old clothes and closed-toe shoes.

When will the Rose Bowl Game teams be known?

The College Football Playoff sets the teams and kickoff times on Selection Day, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2026. The Rose Bowl is a quarterfinal that matches one of the top four seeds against a first-round winner, so shops printing school watch-party shirts should expect about three weeks of lead time.

Where this fits on DTF Database

The Rose Parade is the first event of a busy winter for group orders. Our Polar Plunge 2027 guide and the New Year's Day 2027 races and First Day Hikes guide cover the same weekend, and the licensed character and trademark guide explains how to handle any customer who asks for an official logo. To find a transfer supplier near Southern California, see the California suppliers list.