Square academic cap

[7] The cap, together with the gown and sometimes a hood, now form the customary uniform of a university graduate in many parts of the world, following a British model.

The biretta itself may have been a development of the Roman pileus quadratus, a type of skullcap with superposed square and tump (meaning small mound).

The gold metallic tassel is reserved for those entitled to wear the doctoral gown, as is the use of velvet for headwear.

For schools where the graduation regalia is rented or borrowed by the student, the tassel might be a part of the rental or provided separately.

As with other forms of headdress, academic caps are not generally worn indoors by men (other than by the Chancellor or other high officials), but are usually carried.

[dubious – discuss][citation needed] At the University of Oxford, caps are mandatory dress for matriculation events and for all examinations.

Additionally, all undergraduates appearing before the Proctors' Court are required to present themselves wearing their caps, before removing them as proceedings start.

In some graduation ceremonies caps have been dispensed with for men, being issued only to women, who do wear them indoors, or have been abandoned altogether.

Until the second half of the twentieth century, mortarboards were often worn by schoolteachers, and the hat remains an icon of the teaching profession.

This cap is worn during the mourning of the monarch, a member of the royal family or the university chancellor.