The mortarboard is a cap worn at graduations and academic settings. It has a hood attached to a square of hard material with a tassel. The cap’s origins are ancient and it has alternative names such as corner cap or square cap.
A mortarboard is a special type of cap worn with academic insignia at graduations and in certain academic settings. Because it has a highly distinctive look, these caps are often connected in the public eye with academia and graduation-related celebrations. They have also been historically linked to the teaching profession, a throwback to an era where instructors wore full academic regalia while teaching.
A classic mortarboard consists of a hood attached to a square of hard, flat material. Typically, a tassel is worn, with the tassel attached with a button or tab in the center of the square section. Depending on the design, the beanie can be soft or hard, and may have drawstrings or elastic bands to ensure a snug fit, as one is supposed to be tight.
Traditionally, the board is positioned so that it is aligned to be parallel to the ground, while the bulk of the hat rests on the back of the head. Depending on regional traditions, the placement of the tassel can be important; sometimes, the location indicates whether or not the wearer is a college graduate or what level of education they have completed.
Classically, mortarboards are designed in the same color as the rest of the wearer’s academic insignia, so they are typically black. In the case of colored insignia, the cap may be the same color as the gown or worn in a contrasting color to create a coordinated look that reflects the graduate’s school colors. Tassel colors can match the school colors, or they can reflect the discipline studied by the student.
The origins of this headdress are quite ancient. In Roman times, a zucchetto very similar to the modern mortarboard was worn, and such caps were also worn by Muslim scholars in the Middle East. In the Middle Ages, mortars were worn by members of some holy orders, which explains how they entered the education system in Europe; most students were also members of religious orders in the Middle Ages when the cap flourished.
This cap has a number of alternative names, including corner cap, referring to the four corners of the square; ditchers; or square cap. The name is actually a slang term, referring to the easily portable boards used by masons to store mortar to work with as they move about a project.
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