Originally, academic gowns served a practical purpose, not a ceremonial one. In the 12th and 13th centuries, teachers and students wore gowns and hoods to keep warm in cold school buildings. In 1321, the University of Coimbra in Portugal became the first school to require that its students wear robes. Oxford University organized the first baccalaureate ceremony in 1432, and students in attendance wore robes and recited sermons.
Oxford University debuted the first cap and gown---the graduation attire that students still use today. Though other universities used round caps, Oxford's mortar board-style cap is the most popular and traditional form of academic regalia. Gradually, the cap and gown evolved from a practical outfit for cold weather to a purely symbolic garment. In the 1800s, universities began to assign colors to gowns representing different areas of study.
Graduation hoods have changed dramatically over the past several centuries. Originally, the hoods were attached to the gowns as a way to protect the student's head from cold or rain. By the 16th century, the hood had evolved into a scarf worn over the shoulders. Over the years, several adornments were added to and removed from the traditional hood. Today, most graduation hoods are no longer attached to the gown. In fact, they do not resemble common hoods that are found on normal sweaters and shirts, but rather they are long strips of colored fabric that lies on a student's shoulders.
Tassels often adorn today's mortarboard graduation caps. The earliest graduation caps used in Oxford, Cambridge, and other European universities had a tuft in the center. Today's tassels are a modern-day interpretation of these original tufts. It has become symbolic for a student to turn his tassel from one side to the other after he has graduated, signifying a passing into the next phase of life.
In 1895, a U.S. organization called the Intercollegiate Commission issued the first academic apparel code and specifically delineated a color to represent each discipline. In 1932, the American Council on Education (ACE) approved the Intercollegiate Commission's proposed code, and universities around the country began to adopt it. In 1986, ACE updated the code to denote dark blue as a color signifying a doctoral degree.