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Like the mortarboard, American graduation robes are loosely based on the traditional academic garments of Britain's oldest universities at Oxford and Cambridge. The British costume has its origin in the dress of medieval clergy and scholars. The colors and decoration of academic regalia vary according to country, college, and field of study. In 1894, American educators began to standardize U.S. graduation ceremonies and to regulate the style of graduation gowns and colors. The current version of this Academic Costume Code and Academic Ceremony Guide is published by the American Council on Education. According to this guide, the gowns for bachelor
and master's degree candidates are black and untrimmed. The doctoral candidate robe has velvet facings in the front and three bars of velvet across the sleeves. Doctoral robes are usually black, but some universities allow colored robes. The field of study in which the candidate is receiving a degree dictates the trim color on a doctoral robe and a master's or doctor's hood. Some of the trim colors have historical meaning -- for example, scarlet has long been associated with the church, so a doctor of theology's outfit is trimmed in red. In addition, the lining of a master or doctor's hood is in the official color(s) of the institution granting the degree. A complete list of colors and which academic discipline they
represent can be found in the Academic Costume Code and an illustration of the colors is available on this academic apparel manufacturer's site.
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