Every spring, millions of American students pull on black caps and gowns, walk across a stage to the sound of “Pomp and Circumstance,” and flip a tassel from one side of their cap to the other. It feels timeless — but the American graduation traditions we know today did not appear by accident. They evolved over nearly a thousand years, from medieval European universities to small-town American high schools, picking up new rituals along the way. Here is how caps, gowns, tassels, and commencement ceremonies became the beloved traditions they are.
Where American Graduation Traditions Began: Medieval Universities
To find the roots of the cap and gown, you have to go back to the 1100s and 1200s, when the first universities appeared in places like Bologna, Paris, and Oxford. These early universities were closely tied to the church, and scholars dressed much like clergy — in long, flowing robes that kept them warm in unheated stone lecture halls and marked them as learned men.
The gown was practical before it was symbolic. Medieval classrooms were cold, and a thick robe was simply sensible clothing. But over time, the robe became a badge of academic status. Different ranks of scholars wore different styles, and by the 1300s universities had developed detailed rules about who could wear what.
The square cap — the mortarboard — came later. Its flat, square shape evolved from the caps worn by clergy and scholars in the 1500s and 1600s. It earned its nickname because it resembles a mason’s mortarboard, the flat square tool bricklayers use to hold mortar. The little tassel attached to the top became a fixture over the centuries, and each element of the outfit picked up layers of meaning that American schools still honor today.
So when an American graduate puts on a gown in 2026, they are wearing a garment whose basic shape is eight centuries old. That sense of connection to centuries of scholars is a big part of why the tradition has survived.
1895: The Intercollegiate Code That Standardized American Graduation Traditions
For most of the 1800s, American colleges had no consistent rules about academic dress. Each school did its own thing, and ceremonies looked different from one campus to the next. That changed in 1895, when an intercollegiate commission convened at Columbia University and adopted a standard code of academic costume for the United States.
The 1895 Intercollegiate Code of Academic Costume laid down rules that are still followed today. It specified that gowns should be black (though some schools later adopted their own colors), and it defined three distinct styles: the bachelor’s gown with its pointed sleeves, the master’s gown with long, closed sleeves that open at the wrist, and the doctoral gown — the most elaborate of all — with bell-shaped sleeves trimmed in velvet and velvet panels down the front.
The code also standardized the hood, the colorful draped garment worn over the shoulders by master’s and doctoral graduates. Hood colors carry specific meanings that continue to this day: white traditionally represents arts and letters, golden yellow represents science, dark blue represents philosophy (which is why most PhD hoods are dark blue), green represents medicine, and purple represents law, among others. When you see a row of professors at a university ceremony in a rainbow of hoods, you are looking at the 1895 code in action.
Most American universities also adopted black mortarboards with tassels, and the code’s influence spread to high schools across the country over the following decades. Many of the graduation customs we take for granted — the black gowns, the colored hoods, the formal academic procession — trace directly back to that 1895 agreement.
The Tassel Ritual: Small Detail, Big Meaning
Of all the graduation symbols, the tassel might be the most personal. Traditionally, graduates wear the tassel on the right side of the mortarboard before receiving their diploma, and then move it to the left afterward. The moment of the “tassel turn” symbolizes the transition from candidate to graduate — from student to alumnus.
At many ceremonies, the president or dean leads the entire class in turning their tassels together at the end of the ceremony, creating one of the most photographed moments of graduation day. High school tassels often come in the school’s colors and may include a small charm with the graduation year. Doctoral tassels are frequently gold, marking the highest academic degree.
There are variations. Some schools have graduates move the tassel after each individual receives their diploma; others do it as a group at the very end. Faculty members, who already hold their degrees, wear their tassels on the left at all times. Like other graduation customs, the rules around the tassel are part custom, part school pride — and graduates tend to follow them to the letter.
Walking the Stage: Inside the Modern American Commencement
The word “commencement” itself tells you something important: it means “beginning.” Medieval universities used the term because graduation marked the beginning of a scholar’s career as a teacher. American schools kept the word, and with it the idea that graduation is not an ending but a launch.
A typical American commencement follows a familiar script. The ceremony opens with an academic procession — faculty and graduates marching in to music, usually Edward Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance” March No. 1. That musical tradition is often traced to Yale’s 1905 commencement, where Elgar himself was present to receive an honorary degree, and it has been the unofficial soundtrack of American graduations ever since.
Then come the speeches: a welcome from the university president, an address from a commencement speaker (often a notable alumnus or public figure), and remarks from the valedictorian — the student with the highest academic rank in the class. Some ceremonies also feature a student speaker chosen by vote.
The heart of the ceremony is the conferring of degrees. Graduates walk across the stage one by one, shake hands with the president or dean, and receive their diploma — or, at many large universities, an empty diploma cover, with the real document mailed later. Each graduate’s name is read aloud, families cheer, and photographers capture the moment. At huge state universities, this process can take hours, with thousands of names called in alphabetical order.
Commencement programs often include the singing of the school’s alma mater, the awarding of honorary degrees, and sometimes special recognitions for veterans or first-generation college students. It is formal, it is long, and American families love it.
American Graduation Traditions Beyond High School and College
One of the most distinctive things about American graduation traditions is how early they start. In the United States, graduation is not just for high school seniors and college students — kindergarteners, preschoolers, and even elementary school students get their own ceremonies, complete with tiny caps and gowns sized for five-year-olds.
Kindergarten graduation has become a beloved ritual in many American communities. Children sing songs, receive little certificates, and pose for photos in miniature mortarboards. Elementary and middle schools hold “moving up” or “promotion” ceremonies marking the step to the next level. Critics sometimes question whether such young children need formal graduations, but American families have embraced the tradition as a way to celebrate milestones and mark the passage of time.
High school graduation season, typically in May and June, brings its own cluster of traditions. There is the senior prom — the formal spring dance that serves as a rite of passage. There are senior pranks, the mischievous (and usually harmless) stunts pulled by the graduating class. There is senior skip day, and the tradition of decorating graduation caps with glitter, quotes, and artwork — a personalization trend that has exploded in recent years.
Military academies have their own spectacular customs. At institutions like the US Military Academy, the Naval Academy, and the Air Force Academy, commissioning ceremonies end with new officers tossing their caps high into the air in unison — one of the most iconic images in American graduation culture. College seniors across the country imitate the cap toss at their own ceremonies, but at the service academies it carries the extra weight of a commission into the armed forces.
Graduation Parties: How America Celebrates
If the ceremony is the formal part of graduation, the party is the joyful part — and Americans take graduation parties seriously. In the Midwest, the “open house” is a classic tradition: the graduate’s family opens their home for an afternoon, neighbors and relatives drop by, and guests leave cards and gifts. In other regions, families rent halls, set up backyard tents, or host restaurant dinners.
Graduation parties have their own visual language: decorations in the school colors, photo displays tracing the graduate from kindergarten to senior year, guest books for well-wishes, and tables of food built for a crowd. Money gifts tucked into cards are the standard present, and many families display the cards proudly. In Hawaii and parts of California, graduates are draped in lei — garlands of flowers or, increasingly, garlands made of candy and money folded into origami shapes.
Food is central. Taco bars, barbecue spreads, sheet cakes decorated with the graduate’s photo, and punch bowls appear at parties across the country. Signs reading “The Tassel Was Worth the Hassle” and “Congrats Grad” dot front yards in every state. Like so many American celebrations — from Fourth of July traditions to Thanksgiving traditions — the graduation party is as much about gathering the community as it is about the honoree.
The party also serves a practical purpose: it is where the graduate thanks the teachers, coaches, neighbors, and relatives who helped along the way. In an American graduation, the community that raised the student gets its moment too.
Why These Traditions Endure
Strip away the centuries of history, and the heart of American graduation traditions is simple: they give shape to a moment of change. Putting on the gown, hearing your name called, turning the tassel, hugging your family afterward — each ritual marks the crossing from one chapter of life to the next.
That is why the traditions have survived everything from world wars to pandemics. Even in 2020, when in-person ceremonies were canceled across the country, schools invented drive-through graduations, virtual ceremonies, and backyard celebrations rather than skip the ritual entirely. Americans were not willing to let the milestone pass unmarked.
The traditions also keep evolving. Cap decorating, once unheard of, is now expected. Social media has turned graduation season into a shared national event, with families posting ceremony photos within minutes. Some schools now offer “first-generation” stoles or cords recognizing students who are the first in their families to graduate — a new symbol layered onto the old ones. For a look at how Americans celebrate another beloved holiday season, see our American Christmas traditions guide.
From medieval lecture halls to kindergarten classrooms, from the 1895 code to the tassel turn, American graduation traditions connect each new class to the millions who walked before them. And every spring, the cycle begins again — with “Pomp and Circumstance,” a handshake, and a cap thrown joyfully into the air.
What are your favorite graduation memories? Share this article with a recent graduate or a proud parent, and explore more stories about the traditions that make America unique right here on ENG Post.