The Colors of Your College Degree

By COLOURlover in Popular, Culture, News

The history of academic dress goes back hundreds of years to the chill universities where cap, gown and hood were needed for covering and warmth.
In 1321, the University of Coimbra mandated that all Doctors, Bachelors, and Licentiates must wear gowns. In the latter half of the 14th century, excess in apparel was forbidden in some colleges and prescribed wearing a long gown. By the time of England's Henry VIII, Oxford and Cambridge began using a standard form of academic dress, which was controlled to the tiniest detail by the university.
Not until the late 1800s were colors assigned to signify certain areas of study, but they were only standardized in the United States. European institutions have always had diversity in their academic dress, but American institutions employ a definite system of dress thanks to Gardner Cotrell Leonard from Albany, New York. After designing gowns for his 1887 class at Williams College, he took an interest in the subject and published an article on academic dress in 1893. Soon after he was asked to work with an Intercollegiate Commission to form a system of academic apparel.
The system Gardner Cotrell Leonard helped form was based on gown cut, style and fabric; as well as designated colors to represent fields of study.
For example, sleeves in the bachelor's gown are pointed, in the masters gown they are oblong and the arms project at the elbow, and in the doctor's gown they are bell shaped. Only the doctor's gown has velvet facing. The hood is lined with the official colors of the degree issuing institution and the outside trimming of the hood signifies the subject in which the degree was obtained:

	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, Environmental Studies, Sustainability Russet
	Journalism Crimson
	Law Purple
	Library Science Lemon
	Medicine Green
	Music Pink
	Nursing Apricot
	Oratory (Speech) Silver Gray
	Pharmacy Olive Green
	Philosophy, Political Science Dark Blue
	Physical Education Sage Green
	Public Administration, including Foreign Service Peacock Blue
	Public Health Salmon Pink
	Science Golden Yellow
	Social Work Citron
	Theology, Divinity Scarlet
	Veterinary Science, Husbandry Gray

For more about the history and guidelines from academic ceremony costumes, check out An Academic Costume Code and An Academic Ceremony Guide by the American Council on Education.