Commencement is a cultural tradition; one that marks the end of one stage of a person’s life to beginning another. The ceremony is a milestone event for an individual and much of the Graduation regalia and high school cap and gowns have been influenced by the early traditions of Europe.

Some people believe that the traditional dress was originated by the clerics of the church, as they wear long robes and hoods to keep warm in unheated buildings. In that time everyone wore similar gowns of assorted color and style. But as time passes, professors and religious orders designed robes that members of those groups or organizations wore daily. The students and faculty likewise organized guilds called the apprentices, or the Bachelor of Arts, and the teachers of the Master of Arts who had completed postgraduate work were called doctorates. Hence, the practice of wearing gowns becoming widespread as recognized as the official dress of academics. Different colleges and universities – to distinguish and recognize the various grades of scholars – later used variations on the long gowns and hoods worn for warmth.

The hood is a shield uses in head it an academic vestment worn by monks in the Middle Ages as a protection against the weather, it was worn over a short cape, and had a tail which was used to pull the hood over the head and wrapped around the throat to keep the hood in place. Some solicitors use the hood as a bag for collecting contribution. Colors have been important in denoting different academic disciplines and levels of scholastic achievement, standard gowns of different shape, length and sleeve design indicate the degrees.

Headwear is important component of regalia, as the code is not “traditional” without it. The caps vary with the level of academic achievement. When Roman law frees the slave he won the privilege of wearing a cap and so the academic cap is a sign of the freedom of scholarship and the responsibility and dignity of the graduate. The cap or known as mortarboard, it is a flat square hat with a tassel. The tassel is a silk thread, which are fixed together and fastened by a button at one end and placed at the center of the headpiece. The loose threads are allowed to fall freely over the board edge, normally falling over the left front side of the cap. The tassel is represented by the university’s colors or the colors of the specific college. Some universities and colleges practice moving the tassel from one side to the other but nowadays that would be impractical out-of-doors because of the wind.

Representatives of American institutions gathered to establish a body known as the Intercollegiate Commission to standardize the practice of academic dress. Some colleges and universities allow graduating students to vote on whether or not to wear high school caps and gowns or accessories at graduation ceremonies. Commencements have expanded from high school to middle school, elementary school and kindergarten, practicing yearly “completion” celebration ceremonies.