What does a black stole mean graduation?
Asked by: Prof. Tiffany McCullough | Last update: July 24, 2025Score: 4.8/5 (42 votes)
The white stole is the honors stole, for people who are graduating with honors. The black stole is the default stole for everyone else (for undergrads)
What does a black stole symbolize?
The stole represents the ordination of this individual as clergy, like a police officer's badge.. The colors are for the Liturgical Church Calendar, seasons of the year.. Purple for Lent and Advent, White for major celebration, red for martyrs and Pentecost, black for Good Friday or colourless.
What do the colors of stoles mean?
Although, these days, you can essentially do whatever you'd like, there are some standard colors and symbols that are common according to The Classroom, if you need a basis to start from: White: Humanities, Arts, English, etc. Beige: Business. Green: Medicine, Pharmacy and Physical Education. Orange: Engineering.
What is the meaning of the African stole?
The Kente Graduation Stole symbolizes the academic accomplishments and cultural heritage of the graduating students. It is a traditional cloth originating from Ghana and is worn during ceremonial events to mark moments of significance.
What does a black graduation cord mean?
Black honor cords are usually worn for commencement ceremonies. Used principally for recognition, individual achievement, and as indicitia of membership or participation.
Kente Graduation Stole Meanings and Symbolism
Who wears a stole at college graduation?
An academic stole is a vestment used by various organizations to denote club involvement or academic achievement. Its use includes membership of a professional organization, a high school valedictorian award, and adorns the academic regalia representing some university and college courses.
What does a black sash mean at graduation?
Black graduation stoles may be used to recognize a specific achievement, or to denote membership in an academic club or other group.
What does the stole symbolize?
The stole is a liturgical vestment of various Christian denominations, which symbolizes priestly authority; in Protestant denominations which do not have priests but use stoles as a liturgical vestment, however, it symbolizes being a member of the ordained.
How many stoles can you wear at graduation?
Graduation Stole Etiquette
Firstly, it's important to never wear more than one stole at once.
Does everyone get a stole for graduation?
Can anyone wear a stole at graduation? You don't have to wear a stole to your school graduation. In fact, most schools don't require you to do so – and plenty of people choose not to wear them.
What does the black toga mean?
In the Philippines, however, the tradition has been: white toga for kindergarten, grade school, and high school graduates; black toga for college (and above) graduates. Because the toga is a garment for formal ceremonies, judges wear them, too (often in black).
What do the different color stoles mean?
3) Different colors mean different things
White: Humanities, Arts, English, etc. Beige: Business. Green: Medicine, Pharmacy and Physical Education. Orange: Engineering. Brown: Fine Arts and Architecture.
What does wearing black symbolize?
Mystery, power, and elegance
Few colors carry the same aura of sophistication as black. Whether it's an elegant suit or a classic little black dress, wearing black can communicate confidence and control.
What does the black collar symbolize?
Black collar – Manual laborers in industries in which workers generally become very dirty, such as mining or oil-drilling; has also been used to describe workers in illegal professions.
What is the graduation stole?
Graduation stoles, also commonly referred to as a graduation sash, are sashes worn draped over the shoulders at a commencement ceremony to denote achievement or involvement in academics, sports, student clubs, professional organizations, extracurriculars, their major, as a member of Greek Society in a fraternity or ...
What color stole for a funeral?
It seems that the use of white vestments for Funeral Masses is largely an American phenomenon, developed in recent years, and that most other regions of the world continue to use the more traditional purple or black.
What does the gold stole mean at graduation?
Gold, the most common accent color in graduation regalia, is used broadly to represent academic excellence and achievement, particularly in the fields of science and mathematics. It's also used to represent honor societies and high grade point averages.
What is black graduation?
The Black Graduation Celebration is an annual event held in June to commemorate the many achievements of Stanford's graduating students with family and friends. In conjunction with the traditional commencement, it is meant to celebrate the long tradition of cultural awareness at Stanford.
What is the meaning of black sash?
It began during the apartheid era as a movement of white women who opposed discrimination against black and mixed-race South Africans. During their protests, members wore black sashes over one shoulder in symbolic mourning for the death of constitutional rights.
What do you call the black hat for graduation?
The square academic cap, graduate cap, cap, mortarboard (because of its similarity in appearance to the mortarboard used by brickmasons to hold mortar) or Oxford cap is an item of academic dress consisting of a horizontal square board fixed upon a skull-cap, with a tassel attached to the centre.
What does a black graduation stole mean?
Thus today, we use the cloth to honor those seniors who have distinguished themselves by completing the rite of passage. The Kente Graduation Stoles represent the pride of perseverance, the honor of the accomplishment, and the importance of remembering your roots.
What is the difference between a stole and a sash?
Though the two are clearly different words, they are the same thing. As a matter of fact, the sash is considered a “stole of gratitude”.
What is the stole tradition for graduation?
Stoles commonly represent a form of prestigious recognition. Typically you wear stoles to display your academic organization, honors or individual achievements. Students who are members of fraternities or sororities may wear graduation stoles with the colors representing that group.