The Academic Processional and Regalia

The academic processional that officially preludes the Commencement ceremonies on college and university campuses is one of the oldest and most colorful customs that link 21st century education with its early origins. To signal the achievements of their students, American institutions of higher learning conduct a formal ceremony to award the appropriate degrees earned at the conclusion of prescribed study. The action of taking the degree — associate’s, baccalaureate, master’s or doctorate, as well as the designation of the day itself — is Commencement.

As cited in Academic Heraldry in America (Sheard, 1962), the academic regalia worn at Commencement is of medieval origin. Since the 11th century, when the rise of universities began, “learned clerks” robed themselves in gowns, caps and hoods, thus marking a difference between “town and gown.” By this apparel they were recognized as belonging to the teaching guild, which was the Guild of the Master of Arts. In this organization, the bachelor was the apprentice of the master. This relationship was the forerunner of today’s academic structure. In the United States, professors continue to wear the gown and hood of the university from which they received their highest degree.

The gown, in origin, may have been simply a type of overcoat to protect the teacher from the cold in unheated buildings; the cut or style seems to be derived from ecclesiastical attire. It has usually been black; however, in recent years some institutions have adopted a school color for their gowns. The gowns of bachelors and masters are usually without trimmings of any sort, whereas those of doctors are faced down the front with velvet and adorned with three velvet bars on the sleeves.

The cap or “mortarboard” may have come from the squarish cap worn by the masons of the Middle Ages, or perhaps was suggested by the shape of the books that occupied so much of the scholar’s time. Attached to a button atop the “mortarboard” is a tassel; bachelor’s and master’s tassels are black or color appropriate to the subject; doctors’ tassels are black or golden. The tassel is worn on the left side by individuals receiving or have received a degree.

The hood, a triangular fold of cloth worn over the back of the gown, is faced with colors which denote the field of study represented by the wearer’s degree; the colors of the lining are those of the college or university that granted the degree. The length of the hood is correspondingly longer with each higher degree. The wide velvet borders extending down the front of the doctoral gown, the velvet bars on the sleeves and the borders of most hoods, are colored according to the scholarly field of the wearer.

Regalia Colors

The colors worn by Faculty & Staff, including trimmings of doctors’ gowns, edging of hoods and tassels of caps, are represented by the colors associated with the different disciplines as follows:

Agriculture – Maize
Arts, Letters, Humanities – White
Commerce, Accountancy, Business – Drab
Dentistry – Lilac
Economics – Copper
Education – Light Blue
Engineering – Orange
Fine Arts, including Architecture – Brown
Forestry – Russet
Journalism – Crimson
Law – Purple
Library Science – Lemon
Medicine – Green
Music – Pink
Nursing – Apricot
Oratory (Speech) – Silver Gray
Pharmacy – Olive Green
Philosophy – Dark Blue
Physical Education – Sage Green
Public Admin, including Foreign Service – Peacock Blue
Public Health – Salmon Pink
Science – Golden Yellow
Social Work – Citron
Theology – Scarlet
Veterinary Science – Gray

The following SCC organizations are recognizing their students with additions to regalia as indicated below:

Cords

Silver & Blue – High Distinction
Silver – Distinction
Red, White & Blue – Current Military or Veteran
Purple – College Republicans & Young Democrats
Red – Trio
Red & White – SkillsUSA Member
Gold – Student Ambassador

Stoles

Gold – Phi Theta Kappa (PTK)
White – Walter Scott Foundation
Light Blue – Athlete
White with Blue Border – Elevate Apprentice

Medallions

Student Senate