The History of Academic Dress
The robes, hats and hoods worn by College staff and students at our Graduation
ceremonies, and even the different colours you see on them, have historical
origins and significance.
During the Middle Ages, scholars at the earliest English and European universities
wore wool or fur garments to stay warm in the drafty stone buildings that were
poorly heated. Most of the scholars were also monks or priests, and as such had
the hair shaved from the crowns of their heads in the distinctive clerical tonsure.
Most wore cloaks that included a hood that could be pulled up to keep their heads
warm. The academic gowns and hoods were adapted from both secular and
clerical garments of the time, and the hood was chosen by the early scholars to
indicate by colour, trim or binding the degree held by the wearer.
The hood is the most distinctive feature of academic dress, which through colour
and design may indicate the wearer's diploma/degree and the institution at
which that diploma/degree was earned. Hoods are lined with the colours of the
institution that awards the diploma/degree. Students graduating today from City
of Glasgow College mainly wear hoods in the colours of SQA as it is the awarding
body of our Higher National Certificate and Higher National Diploma courses.
Summer Graduation Ceremony 2023 3