Why do we wear Graduation Gowns?
Graduation is a big step for any student. Whether it means stepping from high school to college, college to graduate school, or graduate school to a PhD, it symbolizes sacrifice and the opening of a new chapter in life. Students deserve all the honor and recognition for their work, so they need to dress the part. Graduation clothing may be a little different from the normal, everyday outfit, but it wasn’t always the case.
In medieval times, universities started to appear in Europe. Most colleges were closely tied to and sponsored by the Roman Catholic church. The traditional uniform for both students and professors were exactly what the clergy wore: floor length gowns, hoods or caps, with no “excess” apparel. This tradition remained for many centuries and was further added to, giving universities more control of little details about the clothing. Colonists even brought this tradition to the United States, as traditional academic attire was worn by US university students until the Civil War.
Over the years, the academic uniform changed, and accessories were added to represent honors or levels of education. In 1895, a council, which would later become The American Council on Education, met to establish an official code of academic clothing. The ACE’s code has been revised since, but is still active and very much the same today. The code regulates the color and style of graduation gowns, hoods, tassels, and other apparel.
Graduation Gown
Black is traditionally worn by college graduates, but other lighter colors can be worn for graduates below a baccalaureate level. For doctors and scholars of higher learning, trimmings are colored depending on their area of study.
Graduation Cap and Tassel
The hat medieval students and clergy wore, the biretta, is very similar to the modern mortarboard, or graduation cap. The color should match the color of the graduate’s gown.
Tassels are worn on the right, and then switched to the left side during the graduation ceremony, depending on the school. Tassels should be black or the same color of the higher scholar’s area of study. Gold tassels are the exception, some school choose to use gold tassels to recognize honors. For high school graduations, the tassel may be black, gold, or the school’s colors.
Honor Cords
Honor cords are long woven cords that hang around the back of a graduates neck, and hang down the front with tassels at the end. They were added to the academic uniform to indicate rank. Many high schools and universities require students graduating cum laude, magna cum laude, or summa cum laude to wear honor cords.
Stoles
Stoles are flat pieces of fabric that hang down the front of the graduation gown. They also indicate rank, and are often worn by valedictorian, salutatorian, or summa cum laude graduates to symbolize their achievements. Stoles can also be used to showcase a school’s emblem, or a club the student is a member of. Students who were members of fraternities, sororities, and professional groups wear stoles with the club’s logo. High schools will usually have stoles that showcase the school’s mascot or class year.
Medallions
Most universities choose to reserve medallions to be worn only by the university president. The school may choose to have medallions or not in high school, but medallions often replace stole or honor cords worn by cum laude, valedictorian, or salutatorian graduates.
For more information about traditional graduation clothing, contact The Honor Cord Company. They also offer low prices and free shipping on honor cords, stoles, medallions, and tassels.
