A doctoral hat ( fi, tohtorinhattu, sv, doktorshatt) is a major part of Nordic academic dress of

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

recipients in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and Sweden and differs from the

square academic cap 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 upo ...

found in other parts of the world. It is a silken

top hat A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditional ...

with a straight brim, although the hats of Finnish Doctors of Science (Technology) have an up-turned brim. Generally the colour of the hat is black, although a few faculties use coloured doctoral hats. On the front, the hat has a gold-coloured metallic

emblem An emblem is an abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a king or saint. Emblems vs. symbols Although the words ''emblem'' and '' symbol'' are often us ...

of the granting university or faculty. The hat is awarded in a solemn graduation ceremony.

Features

The basic colour of the hat is black. However, in Finland, other colors are found, as follows: * Doctors of Fine Arts use dark blue; * Doctors of Law use crimson; * Doctors of Medicine and Dentistry use dark green; * Doctors of Military Science use grey; * Doctors of Music use sky blue; * Doctors of Theology use purple. Swedish doctoral hats are always black.

Obtainment and use

Doctoral hats are handmade, with the owner's head measured using a device called a conformateur. The hat rests on the top of the head. The typical price for the doctoral hat is around 500

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s. A doctoral hat is always worn in lieu of a

with the white-tie style of formal dress. In practice, the hat is mostly worn on academic occasions, such as opening ceremonies, commencement, and

disputation In the scholastic system of education of the Middle Ages, disputations (in Latin: ''disputationes'', singular: ''disputatio'') offered a formalized method of debate designed to uncover and establish truths in theology and in sciences. Fixed ru ...

s. In the disputations, the supervising professor and the opponent carry their hats but do not wear them. During disputations, the hats rest on the table with the university emblems towards the audience. A doctoral hat is personal and is usually not lent to others. Along with the doctoral sword (found in Finland only, and not in all faculties), doctoral

bulawa The bulava or buława ( Polish spelling: ''buława''; Ukrainian spelling: ''булава'' 'bula'va'' is a ceremonial mace or baton or sceptre. Poland, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Historically the ''buława'' ...

(found in Ukraine and Poland), doctoral tailcoat facings (in certain universities / for certain degrees, e.g., for th
degree of Doctor of Science in Technology at Aalto University
, doctoral Bibles (in theological faculties), and

doctoral ring In Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish academia, a doctoral ring may be bestowed upon the conferral of a doctorate. Sweden Together with the doctoral hat or laurel wreath, it forms part of the academic regalia in Sweden. Swedish doctoral rings are m ...

s (in Sweden), it forms part of the doctoral

academic regalia Academic dress is a traditional form of clothing for academic settings, mainly tertiary (and sometimes secondary) education, worn mainly by those who have obtained a university degree (or similar), or hold a status that entitles them to assum ...

. The hat is usually stored in a specially made storage box The award of such a hat was a prominent part of Ingmar Bergman's 1957 film '' Wild Strawberries''.

References

External links

University of Vasa: Degree conferral ceremonies

Åbo Academi: Doctoral hat
{{Hats Hats Academic dress

Features

Obtainment and use

See also

References

External links